Triton
by the elementa1ist
Summary: Mercenary, bounty hunter, assassin, and now apparently a bodyguard. That means having to go back to a place and deal with things I don't want to. WBWL story. Pairings as of yet are undecided. It's kind of a slow burn.
1. Triton

**Disclaimer: obviously I only own the idea of my story and not that of the original author of this series.**

' _French thoughts'_

" _French speech"_

'English thoughts'

"English speech"

 **Chapter 1:Triton**

Blue eyes snapped open. His target had finally arrived. He had been waiting for hours in the lake that ran through the targets back yard. He was informed that the man's office hours ended at 7 p.m. Obviously his target had stayed out past then doing merlin knows what. He had been sitting here for the past six hours and it is currently midnight but the assassin was nothing if not patient. A figure clad in all midnight blue slowly rose from the river. A mist had settled in to obscure his movement through the yard. As he slowly crept to the house he looked for the telltale signs of where his target could be going. The lights that were being turned on were only leaving a trail to where his target was going. As the hooded figure made his way up to the house he looked for the easiest way to get inside. He saw a door a little ways away from the room that the target was sitting in.

When he walked up to the door he checked for any signs of wards or enchantments placed upon it and found none. The target was so assured by the wards that were put around the manor that he had foregone wards on his house. At least it made the job easier. After making sure he double checked his scans he put a noise cancelling charm around himself and the door. Finding where the door's hinges were, the assassin started to push his magic to those spots, slowly freezing the metal. Next, after sticking his hands to the door with a little magic, he proceeded to use an extremely light banishing charm through his hands so that the door had enough force to break off of the hinges.

Lightly setting aside the door the figure continued into the home. As he crept through the halls he kept to the shadows. He felt that all of this sneaking wasn't really necessary, but it was better safe than sorry. Finally reaching the room that his target was sitting in, he smelled the strong stench of alcohol wafting through the doorway. This job was almost becoming a mockery of all the preparation that he had put into this mission. As he stepped into the room the target still hadn't noticed him, as the target was facing the other direction while nursing a half full glass of brandy. The assassin walked into the man's field of view and the man drunkenly scrambled for his wand. A simple flick of his own was enough to take away the man's wand and any thought of resistance along with it. Amazingly the man kept a strong hold on his glass of brandy. It actually amused the assassin.

" _Do you know who I am?"_ he drunkenly slurred.

" _Jean-Luc Bernard, head of the international cooperation department for the Ministry of Magic."_ the man said to the now identified Jean-Luc.

Jean-Luc then got an annoyed look on his face before he started venting at the man in front of him. " _Then you know who you are messing with and what connections I have? I could have you arrested and get my friends to throw you in the darkest hole in our ministry."_

" _You didn't let me finish your introduction. You are also part of a human and magical creature trafficking ring that exports out to other countries to make kidnapped animals or people harder to find. The final part of your bio and most important to me is that your name came up. Your theory of having me arrested is also based on the fact that you think that you will leave here alive._

His face had turned ashen when the fact about his involvement in the smuggling ring was mentioned, however turned to confusion when the fact about his name came up and then immediately to fear when his death was mentioned. He tried to scramble out of the seat and was instantly shot with a body bind. This time he couldn't keep his hold on his glass. His face had a terrified look on it as a strong stench broke through the alcohol that was overpowering the smell of the alcohol.

" _Did you really just piss yourself?"_ the man said with some amusement in his voice. The only thing that came out of Bernard's mouth was a small whimper. As the cloaked figure knelt down to be face to face the the ministry official, he asked a question

" _Have you figured out who I am yet?"_ Jean-Luc's head looked like a pinball with the speed that it was going back and forth, answering the question in the negative.

" _Then perhaps this will help give you the clue you need to figure it out."_ water started to coalesce onto the table into the shape of a trident with a base and then froze into ice. Jean-Luc's eyes widened and his heartbeat that had started to go down during the conversation now skyrocketed. He had heard stories about times when this item was seen and it was never good for the people involved.

" _I've heard of you. Your name is Triton right?"_ The now named Triton nodded slowly, only tipping his chin down once. " _Then you are a mercenary and that means that someone paid you."_ Jean's eyes got a glint like he had thought of a way out of this. " _I'll pay you double, no, triple whatever the amount you were paid if you just walk away."_ he had a slight grin that gave off the feeling that he had this situation all figured out.

Triton looked down, his face void of emotions, and started to talk in an ice cold voice that had the same emotional inflection in it as his face had. " _There are a few problems with that though."_ Bernard's grin slowly started to fade. " _The first thing wrong with that proposition is that I already took money from the original client. Secondly, when have you ever read a report about me that says that I failed to complete a job?"_ the ashen color came back to Jean's face. " _And lastly, while many people don't actually believe this, mercenaries can have a moral code. When I was offered a job that paid well and gave me a chance to get rid of cowardly scum like you, how could I possibly refuse."_

Jean started to wiggle in fright. This drew Triton's eye. " _Apparently I monologuing too long and got distracted if the spell started to wear off. I guess this is goodbye between us Monsieur Bernard."_ With that said Trition started walking down the hall towards the door he had already opened. Jean waited with closed eyes and bated breath, waiting for the killing blow to come but it never came. As he breathed a sigh of relief he failed to see the the brandy that he had spilled earlier rising and turning into an icicle the size of a pinky while also turning extremely sharp. As he started to get up he heard a sharp whistling but never saw the small object pierce his chest and go straight into his heart.

Triton stared at the chateau that his employer lived in. It looked like a normal chateau, however he could feel the magic rolling of of it like waves crashing against my body. The wards around it were more suitable for a fortress rather than a home. Triton was always amused by wards. With his abilities he was easily able to bypass all of them with a few exceptions. That was what made him the best in the business. Well, that along with his fighting prowess.

Wards worked using a surge of magic coming from the epicenter moving faster than the eye could see and at such a small interval between each wave that it made to seem like they created a wall of magic. However, Triton had found the trick to working around that. If you imbued enough power and used a trick he had picked up, you could slow down the waves until they completely stopped moving. This had the bonus effect of not tripping the alert of the wards being down. Even though the pulses of magic in the wards were moving so slow it was almost as if they weren't, they were still technically on and functional. This meant that Triton could slip inside and then let them run back at usual speed so that everything seemed normal.

After he walked through the ward line Triton walked behind one of the nearest trees and cast the strongest disillusionment charm that he could. He was taking no chances of being surprised or double crossed. The man who hired him was always claimed to be a man of honor. That made Triton snort. Honor could be dropped in seconds if pressure was applied to the right aspect of a person's life. This could include money, family, political position, personal safety or many other aspects.

He approached the chateau and had to commend his employer for his protections. He had warded every opening that the house had and if it had been anyone else trying to get in it would have taken at least a few hours to take down the wards at the perimeter of the property but that was expected to come from the head of the French Auror Department. As Triton looked for a way in he saw the family of his client on the ground floor and the client on the second floor in what appeared to be his office. That meant that the third floor was completely open to his attempts to get in unnoticed. He walked around to the side of the house where no one could see what he was about to do. As he got to the wall he started creating small handholds and footholds on the wall and started to climb. As he got to the roof he walked to the nearest window and froze the wards. The window had only a small bolt on the other side that was easy to break.

As he went through the window he landed with nary a sound. He observed the room he was in and found lots of stuffed animals as well as posters of the Holyhead Harpies. Obviously the younger daughter's room. Triton walked through the hallway and down the and stood outside of the client's office debating whether to put up a silencing ward. Deciding against it, as it would give away that he was here from the use of magic in such close proximity to the client. Going through various scenarios Triton decided that the easiest course of action would be to knock. As he did just that a voice came from the other side of the door

" _I told you guys I didn't wish to be disturbed."_ Triton walked through the door " _My bad. I didn't seem to get the memo."_ He went for his wand while trying to get behind the desk but Triton had his out already and quickly disarmed him while almost simultaneously putting up a silencing ward.

Triton looked at his client with a bemused smile. " _Is that any way to treat an employee coming to give a status report?"_ The client's shoulders sagged in relief. " _Oh thank merlin."_ he muttered. " _I thought you were one of Bernard's men."_ he exclaimed. Triton could see how he might have thought that. His face then turned into a confused look. " _How did you get in by the way?"_ he queried of Triton. Triton just gave a smirk with a slight glint in his eye before replying. " _That, my friend, would be a trade secret."_ the client nervously chuckled. " _Alright then."_ he went back to sit in the chair he previously occupied

The client pointed to a chair. " _Sit,sit."_ he offered. Triton slowly shook his head. " _I'd rather stand if you don't mind Monsieur Delacour."_ Triton replied. The now identified Monsieur Delacour shrugged his shoulders indifferently as he grabbed two snifters and an unopened bottle of brandy. Pouring the two cups Monsieur Delacour offered one to Triton who refused with a slight shake of the head. Monsieur Delacour then took one of the snifters and drank it all in one gulp before picking up the second one to nurse. He looked straight at Triton. " _Please, call me Bastien."_ Triton nodded this time signaling his understanding and acceptance.

Bastien then looked up from his glass. " _How did the assignment go."_ Triton found it refreshing for one of the ministry officials to not beat around the bush. " _Easier than anticipated. He was quite drunk by the time he got home."_ Bastien just nodded at the end of the statement before commenting. " _The second half of the money will be transferred to your account by midday tomorrow."_.

" _Before I take my leave, i have a couple of questions. What made you, a senior department head at the ministry go after another without any solid evidence? And more importantly, how did you find me?"_ The answer to these questions was something that Triton really wanted to know.

Bastien look at Triton before giving a brief sigh. " _Jean-Luc has been trying to get my daughters for a while now. And while I can't prove that it was him, I know it has been him. He has been giving me smug looks and makes cracks about my family almost every time we see each other. He is especially vindictive whenever there was a recent attack."_ And there it was. The loosening of the reputation of honor that this man had built. This time because of family. The 'good' people of society usually turned the nastiest when their family gets involved. " _And the answer to the second question?"_ this time Bastien got a sparkle in his eye. " _Well I'm just going to have to call that a trade secret."_ Triton nearly groaned. He had used his own words against him and he knew it was annoying him a little. Triton's respect for him went up a notch. Just a small one. Triton then pushed himself off of the wall that he had been leaning on before he turned to leave the office

Before he was fully out of the door he was called back by the head auror. " _If I could have a few more moments of your time I have a proposition for you."_ Triton turned, walked back into the room, and reassumed the position that he had just vacated. " _I'm listening."_ he intoned.

Bastien just looked at him before replying. " _My family and I are going to the world cup this year and I need someone to watch after my daughters."_

Triton looked at him for a second before responding. " _Don't you have aurors for that job?"_ Bastien nodded his head. " _We do indeed but there remains the fact that you are the best in the field along with the fact that you are closer in age to my daughters than any of my aurors are and can blend in easier."_ Triton ran over the facts in his head and weighed the pros and cons of taking the assignment. He came out of his thinking when he heard Bastien start again. " _I will also pay double what I was paying you for the mission tonight._ That put more weight into the pro section of the argument. " _Also you will be provided with a tent near our site that will be paid for by us."_

A smile grew on Triton's face. It seemed like a nice and easy gig. There wasn't likely to be anything happening at an event like this. The most he would probably have to defend against would be drunkards and a few too bold perverts. Triton the returned his gaze to Bastien. " _So when are you guys leaving for the cup?"_ Triton asked.

" _In a week. We will be traveling by portkey and staying for a week. My daughters wanted to experience the atmosphere that this type of competition creates."_ Bastien replied almost immediately.

" _Will I be staying with you the entire week or just the day of the finals?"_ Triton enquired.

" _The entire week. You are there to blend in as a family friend."_ Triton thought it over. He could play nice for this easy payday. He then thought of something. " _How am I supposed to interact with your daughters?"_ Bastien thought about it for a moment before replying just stay by their side and protect them from harm. Triton dismissed that idea. " _That won't work. If I am supposed to be a family friend I will need to actually converse with your daughters. I will be coming back to this house in three days to get acquainted with your family."_ Triton stated.

Bastien gave a small start at the declaration. " _I don't think that that is the best idea. My family can be a little hard to handle."_ Bastien explained.

 _Regardless, I will be here in three days. Explain to your family what is going on so that this can go smoothly. And if there is nothing more, then I will be on my way."_ With his piece being said he walked out of the office and headed back upstairs and headed out the way he came in, all the while missing the pair of azure eyes that watched his retreating back.

After he climbed out of the window he fixed the lock that he had broken to get in. When he got to the ward line he gathered the energy to freeze them again. As he stepped out of the ward line he turned to take one last look at the chateau before disappearing with no clues that he was ever there.

When Triton reappeared in his safehouse he let out a small groan and went into the bathroom. As he got in he looked at the mirror and took off his hood. Eyes the color of the ocean and shoulder length hair as pale as light blue frost. Slowly the hair started receding into a neater style going to his mid neck while turning dark black. All the while his eyes turned back to the piercing green that he was born with. With the transformation complete, Triton relaxed all of the mental defences as well as the stopped the magic that was constantly running through his system for more combat effectiveness and went to go take his well deserved rest.


	2. memories

**Disclaimer: obviously I only own the idea of my story and not that of the original author of this series.**

' _French thoughts'_

" _French speech"_

'English thoughts'

"English speech"

This method is reversed in flashbacks

Chapter 2: Memories

Eyes slowly opening, this time the emerald green that he was born with, Triton let out a groan. As he stretched out on his bed he looked around his apartment. It looked like any usual muggle apartment. It had a stove, microwave and even a tv. Nowhere in sight were there any moving pictures. In fact, there weren't any pictures visible at all. It was barren, as if it was a hotel room that hof only ever been used the night before. There were no clothes laying on the floor and no trash in the bins. It had one recliner chair sitting near the kitchen area but the rest of the floor seemed empty. Still, it had a small cozy feel to it. It was a one bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen setup. The only way one would know it was a magical dwelling were the extremely small runes scribbled across the wire coverings that were there to protect from any magic that might be used. That or the hidden but severely strong wards. Triton knew that it was highly unlikely for him to be found surrounded in a building full of muggles when all of his clients and targets were magicals, but he would rather have that last safety measure than leave it up to chance. People in his line of work who tended to get careless generally weren't afforded that luxury for very long.

As he started to get dressed he reflected on the agreement he had made the previous night. This was the first time he had ever taken up a job as a bodyguard for someone who wasn't high up in the political food chain. The bodyguard jobs that he did usually take included politicians that were going to places that they weren't supposed to and couldn't take their normal detail for fear of being noticed. Those politicians could generally be trusted to be spineless enough that they would obey his commands to stay alive. however , having a teenage girl to watch over might make it a little trickier. He would have to keep a constant eye on both himself and on another person with the added benefit of the protected not being trained. That would only make him have to watch them closer in a fight. It also meant that his focus in fights had to be more limited to one or two people rather than area wide spells that might hit the Delacours.

While going through the mental list of what he would have to change in his style to incorporate the Delacours, he started thinking about where they would be heading. His home country would be hosting the the world cup and that meant going to a place that he would rather forget. He never thought that he would be going back there by his own will, but here he was agreeing to a job that would take him right back. Even though it wasn't to the place he had lived and now detested, it was still a place he could see the people that he would rather not have to deal with for the rest of his life.

Living with the Potters was never a physical trauma. He was never beaten, spanked, or slapped. He was just simply ignored. His parents rarely cooked for him and when they did it was never specifically for him. It was usually when they made too much food and had left overs that they expected to clean up. Those were the meals he cherished most. It made him feel like his parents actually cared. Like they had done something for him. Instead he was generally taken care of by the house elves. They fed him, brought him old toys from Thomas's room, and taught him how to play games that other kids usually played.

However by showing him these games it had the opposite effect of what the elves intended. Many of the games were meant to be played with multiple people. This just reinforced the fact that he had no one to play with him. Whenever he tried to get his parents to play they brushed him off and when he tried to get his brother to play he would just laugh at him and would always say "Who would want to play games with a loser?".

This neglect of attention might have seemed small, but for a kid it damages their developing mind. Young kids are always seeking approval from the people that they deem the authority figures in their life. When these figures never acknowledge anything from the kid it gets to them. They start thinking that they aren't doing enough or that they aren't doing something right. It was what drove Triton to the library and into the pages that were filled with knowledge. He wanted the ability to impress his parents. To show them that he was worthy of the attention that they were giving Thomas. He had no idea of any of the outside influences that were making his parents focus Thomas over him. He only knew that they liked Thomas better. This thought process led him to remembering the first time he had tried to show his parents that he could do magic.

 _It was evening at Potter manor and a 5 year old boy with messy black locks and vivid green eyes was sitting on a cushioned chair. He had three books scattered around the chair and a table in front of him. On this table sat three cubes. As he looked at the cubes his gaze intensified and they became the only things that he could focus on. After a few moments the cubes started to rise and slowly the started to spin in a circle. It had taken him a month to get this down. The first couple days he had tried the cubes had barely wiggled. The next week he started to get them to rise slowly and the following one was dedicated to holding them aloft. The final week of the month was spent trying to get the cubes to move in the circular motion that he wanted them to._

 _With his confidence at an all time high, holding the three cubes he had just been floating, he walked down out of the library and over to the dinner table where his mother was feeding Thomas. "Hey mom I want to show you something." Harry shouted._

" _Not now Harry I'm just finishing feeding Thomas. Can it wait for a little bit?" she asked without turning around. Harry's face fell slightly but quickly went back to a smile. She had implied that she would watch when she was done so he would wait. After about 5 minutes of Lily feeding Thomas dinner she turned around. Thomas started whining. "I want my cookie now." he said with as much authority as a 5 year old could muster._

" _Not now. After Harry shows me what he wants to show me." Lily replied to Thomas as she turned back to Harry._

 _With excitement Harry went to set the blocks down in front of him. Just as he was about to lift them he heard Thomas scream "I want my cookie_ _ **now**_ _."_

 _When Lily turned around she was greeted to the sight of a cookie zooming from the pile into one of Thomas's little chubby outstretched hands. A smile broke out on Lily's face._

" _Oh my boy is going to be such a powerful wizard." exclaimed Lily as she lifted Thomas out of his seat. Thomas let out a few giggles as he waved he arms around happily from being lifted. All the while Harry's face had turned into a frown. He slowly started to walk back to the library. All thoughts of showing his trick to his mother forgotten. As he sat back on the seat that was only vacated 10 minutes ago he started tearing up._

' _Why? Why does he always get all of the attention? I wanted to show mom something but he just had to go and ruin it. She probably would have told me that I was just trying to copy what Thomas did.' These thoughts were running through his head after he had been sitting on the seat for a few minutes._

Slowly the world came back into focus as Triton came out of his memory. It was the first time that he had ever truly felt that he could never stack up to his brother in the mind of his parents. That his parents would never look at him with that same sparkle in their eyes that they looked at Thomas with. It was also the day that he had vowed to become the best that he could. To show the people that he would meet that he wasn't below Thomas in skill.

A benefit that came from having no one to play with was that he could practice magic throughout the day. He had all of the knowledge he needed in the books that surrounded him. However he was still a kid. That meant that he generally skipped the instructions of how to do things and went straight to the part of what the result was supposed to look like. This had a unique effect on his learning. Rather than learning the different incantations for each spell, he learned how to shape his magic to his will. With no guidance from people that learned from the way that magic was currently taught, he began to make his own ideas about how he should use magic. He needed neither a wand nor words to make his magic obey his commands.

For the next few years Triton was only ever visited by one adult. His godfather, Sirius Black, was the one person in Harry's life that showed him any affection that was above a minimal amount. Remus Lupin was always polite and smiled at Harry, but he was Thomas's godfather. That meant while he liked Harry, he felt like he had an obligation to stay around Thomas.

It was this one bond that kept Harry happy throughout the years. While he was never treated like a normal child from his parents, Sirius would always come to play with him and bring him gifts on Christmas and his birthday. This was why Harry almost broke when he received nothing on his ninth birthday. It was also the day he thought he had lost the last of the adults to Thomas. Triton started to think about that fateful day. One of the most disappointing, terrifying, and rewarding days that he had ever had

 _Harry, now nine years old, peeked out of the doorway of the library. He could see the pile of presents and the group of people that were there for Thomas but Harry didn't care about those things. He was looking for the silky black hair and the roguish grin with pearly teeth that indicated the presence of his godfather. He waited for hours. He waited through all of the sounds of the party including the singing of happy birthday and the moans of approval from the taste of the cake. After all of the general noise of the party had died down he poked his head back out of the doorway but still didn't see Sirius. As he slowly crept down the hallway towards the kitchen he could see his brother playing with some toy models of famous quidditch players. When he got to the doorway he could see his father looking at some papers. James then looked at Lily and spoke "I need to make a trip to Gringotts to talk about some of the investment situations."_

 _It was at this point that Thomas looked up from playing with his toys. "Can I go to the alley? Please please please?" Thomas started to beg. James thought about it "I guess that would be ok." he then turned and looked at Lily. "Would you be able to take him through the alley while I get my business done honey?"_

 _Lily nodded her head "of course I can." she then bent down and looked at Thomas. "And where would my little champion like to go today?"_

 _Thomas had gotten up and was bouncing on the tips of his toes. "Quidditch shop. I want to go look at the new Cleansweep 7 that just came out." Thomas exclaimed._

 _James gave a small chuckle and went to ruffle Thomas's hair. Spoken like a true Potter. I know you'll be a great quidditch player." He then turned towards the fireplace and started walking towards it while looking over his shoulder. "Come on we can floo there and be back before it gets too late." With that said all three of them were whisked away by green flames and when the flames died down the house was left eerily quiet._

 _The green eyes that had watched the whole situation had become downcast. 'They didn't even remember me.' the thought went through his head. 'I wanted to get something too. Maybe I can catch up with them.' With that thought in mind he walked over to the fireplace and grabbed a pinch of floo powder. As he stepped in he threw the powder down and in a clear voice said "The Leaky Cauldron. The world spun around him for a few second until it slowed for a brief moment and he was spat out into the pub he had just said the name of. As he got up and looked around he could see a few patrons looking at him, wondering why a kid had come through the floo without a parental chaperone. Luckily the bartender Tom was too busy collecting a group's order to go check on the kid who just came through._

 _Walking into the back alley Harry came face to face with a brick wall. He remembered his parents opening the wall when he was younger by tapping a specific brick but he couldn't remember which one. So he resolved to wait for some other people to walk through. It only took a few of minutes for a younger couple walk into the alley. Not even noticing the small child off to the side, caught up in each other, the couple tapped the brick that would allow them into the alley and continued through._

 _Slipping through the opening before the bricks could close again Harry had to stop for a moment to look around. Sights and smells invaded his senses. Harry started wandering through the alley just trying to experience all that he could. He hadn't been here for a couple of years and he forgot the rush of being in such a wonderful place. As he continued walking aimlessly, he unknowingly stepped into a side alley. Confused as to why it got darker Harry started to look around. Noticing that he had no idea where he was he started to panic. Not seeing the figure come up behind him he almost jumped out of his skin when a hand was placed on his shoulder._

" _Woah there kid I was just thinking you looked like you could use some help." the stranger said to him. Harry nodded "I was looking for my parents when I got lost. Do you think you can help me find them mister?" The man put on a gentle smile "Of course kid just follow me."_

 _As he started leading Harry down the alley, Harry noticed that it seemed to be getting darker. "Uh mister." Harry gently poked the man's side. "I don't think that we're going the right way." The man just reassured Harry. "This is just a shortcut. We'll be back onto the main street in no time." Harry didn't like the feeling that he was getting from this guy so he stopped. "No. I'm not going anywhere but back the way we just came." The man just sighed. "Well I guess that means I'll have to carry you the rest of the way." That was the last thing he heard before he saw a flash of red and then complete darkness._

 _When Harry awoke, his mind was a little groggy. He tried to stretch out his legs but couldn't. When he looked down he saw that his arms were tied to his sides and his legs were tied together. When he started to squirm he heard a chuckle. "You can stop that now. You are tied up pretty good. There is no way that you are getting out of those. Harry heard a voice from behind him. Harry used his feet to rotate him around so that he could see the man. He was a middle aged man with a short stature, slightly balding head, and yellow teeth that looked like they were beginning to rot._

" _Where am I?" Harry asked the man. The man just looked at him amused. "You are at one of our safe houses and we are just waiting for our contact to come pick you up." This alarmed Harry. "I didn't agree to go anywhere." Harry exclaimed. The man let out a little chuckle, but this one had a slight menacing tone to it. "Neither did any of the other kids we picked up buddy." Harry started to struggle again before the man gave him a light kick. "Oh stop it will you. It's easier for us if you just stay still and it will be less painful for you." the man stated. Harry gave a glare at the man._

 _The sound of a door opening stopped Harry's glare and when he rolled his body over to look he saw the man who he had met in the alley. The man looked over to his partner. "Has he been giving you any problems?" the man asked. "Just a little bit of wiggling and shouting. Nothing too serious." the shorter man replied. "Good. That makes this job a little easier then. Bernard said he should be here in about half an hour."_

 _The man walked over to Harry before squatting down in front of Harry's downed form. "When our contact comes here you are going to go with him a he will lead you to a new life." the man informed Harry. "No. I don't want to go." The man smirked at Harry. "You act like we are giving you a choice. You will be going. Why would you even want to stay here? It's not like your parents are even looking for you." he said that just to put a little panic in the kid but for Harry it struck a cord a little too close to home and he looked down in anger. Seeing that he had struck a nerve the captor decided to have a little fun._

" _Why would you even want to go back? They probably don't even want you. You were just a burden to them." Harry was becoming distraught. This man was dredging up all of his fears about his family. "Stop it." Harry shouted. The captor seemed to enjoy Harry's breakdown. "You were just a waste of space in their home. Something they had to put up with and didn't care about." Harry was starting to hyperventilate. His legs had curled to the fetal position. "Stop stop stop." he pleaded. The captor only seemed to get egged on by this. His partner even had a small grin. "I bet they would have given you to us by choice if we had given them the chance. Dropped you at the first chance they had." Harry felt a rush of anger at the last comment. He knew his parents didn't care as much for him, but they would never give him to this person._

" _They saw what you really were. A waste of potential. Something that would never amount to anything." With that last statement it was like he was stepping over Harry's strongest hopes and dream. Suddenly Harry's anger overflowed and a scowl broke and his face. In as deep of a voice as a nine year old could muster he ground out three words with each being strongly punctuated. "I. Said._ _ **Stop**_ _."_

 _With the last word a brief burst of power left Harry. The pipes burst through the wall spilling water into the air. Both men gave a little start. The one leaning over him just chuckled. "I guess you aren't completely useless. But that's not gonna stop where you are gonna be going soon." With that last piece said Harry bit out another sentence. "Just leave me_ _ **alone**_ _." and with the final word in that statement the water droplets in the air froze for a few before hardening into ice. The two kidnappers jumped up with a touch of nervousness. The one that had been taunting him turned to him with a scowl. "Stop this before I kick your teeth in."_

 _The last comment was the straw that broke the camel's back. He might have been neglected, but he was never beaten and he had no desire for that to start. So with just the intent to rid himself of these to men he pushed more magic out. He closed his eyes and curled a little tighter. "No. Why don't you just go away."_

 _With that last sentence he pushed what was left of the magic he could control out of his body. For a second nothing happened. Then a short whistle could be heard. Then another. And another. This happened until twenty of these whistling noises happened simultaneously._

 _All Harry heard after the whistling had died down was the two loud thumps, like sacks of potatoes being dropped. When harry opened his eyes he was treated to a gruesome sight. Both men were littered with tiny holes. Both men were face up with glassy eyes staring blankly towards the ceiling. The magic that had been holding the ropes tight tapered off and Harry was finally able to move. Harry started pedaling himself back as fast as possible until his back hit a wall. He was horrified by the sight. He was horrified that it had been him who had created it. He knew he would be in trouble if anyone found him here so he ran out the door into the unknown city._

With his exit through the door. Came the exiting of that particular memory. It was the first time in his life that he had ended someone else's. But however much despair and terror that day had put into him, he had gained something useful, something that he would use to define himself in the years to come. His power over water had been another first time that had happened that day. Later in the day after he escaped he had vowed that he would never be as helpless as he had been when he had been captured. He spent the next couple of years honing all of his magical skills, especially his new water powers. This all led up to his discovery of the French magical community as well as his wand and legacy. The wand he was currently twirling in his hand.

 _It had been 2 years since Harry had been transported into the city of Paris by his kidnappers. His appearance had become a little thinner, losing much of the baby fat that he had once had. He had also lost that childish innocence that every kid starts life with. He had become more emotionless, and less caring to the people that he hurt. When he had initially escaped from his captors his first thought had been to immediately find the nearest floo to go back home but was stopped short by the nagging voice in his head. It kept asking him if his parents would ever even want him back. They never acknowledged him when he was just their son, so how would they react when they knew their son was a killer. This train of thought was what had kept him from going home. It had been hard for him in the beginning. He didn't know any French and had to sneak into the library to learn the language from there. He also had to provide for himself. There were nights that he slept in cardboard boxes or behind dumpsters. However, throughout all of his hardships his control over magic grew. His need to be stronger than the other street urchins had given him the drive to control his magic. It was one of the main things that set him apart from all of the other kids that lived on the street. He didn't need to actually stick his hand in the tourists' pockets for him to get their wallets. He could be a safe distance away so if he ever failed that tourist wouldn't be able to find the one who was trying to pickpocket him._

 _He had also been training in his water powers. He could now conjure water, which was a huge boon. It helped him when he was being harassed by other orphans who thought that he would be an easy target because he was alone. If they would chase him they would find that random patches of ice seemed to appear in their way. If they got too close they would find themselves getting hit with ice cubes. And if they managed to grab actually catch and constrain Harry, they would find their hands getting frostbite from where they were holding him. This was another one of the small advantages that his powers gave him. He didn't feel the cold. He wasn't affected by the snowy winters like the other kids were. In fact that was where he shined. When it snowed he was at his strongest. People tended to only want to get out of the cold and wouldn't pay as much attention to their surroundings. Harry would also be surrounded by his element. Ice was everywhere and that meant he had an excess of ammunition against other kids or inconspicuous distractions on the adults. He could trip adults by making the snow become hard ice so that he could grab their wallets before they could orient themselves. He also had a trump card against anyone coming for him. It was designed for men like the ones who took him last time. Harry would conjure water and then turn it into hundreds of small frozen disks. He would then shoot the disks in all_

 _However his final ability was his most useful for his thieving antics. The ability to blend in with the crowd and disappear. He was a metamorphmagus. Or at least a partial one. He couldn't change his height, weight, or completely change body parts. But he could change his hair length and color, change his eye color, and move the bones in his face to change his facial structure. It made disappearing into a crowd so much easier as well as gave him the ability to rob the grocery store without them getting suspicious from seeing the same kid._

 _All of this practice in stealing had led him the person he was following. It was just turning from winter to spring and people were starting to shed their heavy snow jackets. The man looked decently wealthy. He was walking quickly through the streets and it seemed as if people were parting so that the man could pass them with more ease. The strange thing was that the people didn't even seem to notice they were doing it. Before the mark could get too far Harry reached into his pocket with magic and gently lifted the cloth that was in there. However instead of a wallet falling onto the ground as Harry expected, a leather pouch fell onto the sidewalk. Now curious as to why the man was carrying around an old pouch Harry looked inside. What he saw made his eyes widen and his gaze to snap back to the man he had just pickpocketed. Inside the bag were ten gold coins. Harry quickly resumed following the man until he suddenly turned into a pub that Harry had never noticed before. That was strange to Harry because he had completely memorised this part of Paris. It was a necessity if he wanted to make a quick getaway while still being able to find his way back home. However the more that he stared at the pub, the more his eyes started to look at the stores around it. 'No.' he thought he needed to focus. This was the first sign of magic that he had encountered since his escape and he wasn't going to let it slip through his fingers so easily._

' _Come on. Focus." Harry thought. With that thought circulating through his head he continued his walk towards the pub. As he finally made his way through the pub's door the pressure on his mind evaporated, leaving him with the ability to finally check his surroundings. He found many people looking at the kid who just stumbled through the door of the pub. Before anyone could start asking questions he saw the man walking through a doorway with the sign_ "Entrée à la maison de la magie" _hanging above it. Quickly following after the man he went through the still open door and was hit with a similar wave of magic, sights, and smells that Diagon Alley had set upon him._

 _Looking around the area, he found that it was less packed than he remembered Diagon Alley being, but that might just be because of the time of year. As he walked down the street his head was on a swivel trying to take in everything that this place had to offer. While walking down the street he saw a sign that exclaimed_ "Favager wands. The best wand forgers since 1318." _When looking at the sign Harry felt a slight pull of attraction from the shop. Deciding to explore this strange feeling he opened the door to the shop and heard the light tinkle of the bell from above the door. Taking three steps into the shop, Harry stopped his short walk. He looked all around the shop and all he could see were rows upon rows of jars and boxes. Trying to get a feel from where the pull was coming from he saw movement out of the corner of his eye and spun to face the area immediately. Seeing what had given him a small fright, Harry slightly relaxed. When he gazed upon the wand forger he saw the man staring intently at him. The man was an older fellow with a head of white hair that stood up like he was an evil scientist and wrinkles that looked like they had just started to set in. Starting to get annoyed at being looked at, Harry bit out a sentence that held a slight scathing quality to it._

"Is there anything I can help you with?" _came the question from Harry. The man kept looking at Harry for a few more seconds with an inquisitive stare before muttering an answer._ "Just trying to understand." _the man replied._

 _At his answer Harry just got confused. Seeing the look upon the young boy's face the man took it upon himself to relieve some of the mystery of the statement._ "I, like my ancestors before me, am a person who is able to feel the auras that all witches and wizards produce. Using the information that we gather from the person we are able to better forge wands specifically for each customer. However you have a tinge to your aura. One that I haven't seen before nor have any of my predecessors recorded. That is why I wanted to understand what it was before I went any further in this meeting."

 _At his explanation Harry knew what he was talking about. Throughout all of his reading in Potter manor he had never ran into anything about spells giving the ability to control an element to the degree that Harry did. He thought it was just a rare ability like his metamorphmagus abilities but now it seemed like it was even more rare. Clearing his throat, Harry went to pose a question._ "Do you talk about anything you learn from your customers Sir?" _Harry asked._

 _The Favager male just gently shook his head before giving his answer._ "Because I and my family are forgers, we generally learn some things that are personal about our clients so that we can forge wands that are the best suited for the way they live their lives. For example two people who have similar auras might have completely different attitudes and responses to different situations. If they both lean towards charms, one might have an aggressive lifestyle that would be favoured for duelling while the other may have a passive lifestyle that favors enchantments and wards. So in the process of trying to learn more about our customers we have a policy to not give away information about our patrons. Anything that is shared here will stay between us. And please, call me Aldric."

 _As the man finished his answer Harry thought it over before weighing the pros and cons of telling this man about his abilities. Finally coming to the decision that he could get more from getting a strong focus than keeping his secret from one man, he started to tell the man before him about his abilities._

"I have the ability to control water. Better than any spell that I have seen that gives the user control over a certain element." _As he said this Aldric's eyes closed as his brow furrowed in thought. After a minute he opened his eyes with a knowing glint._ "Would you be able to show me?" _he asked. Harry gave a nod to the man before focusing on conjuring water and freezing it so that it started snowing in the shop. Aldric looked around amused and with a knowing smile._ "My ancestor Cyril, the one who started this shop, spoke about one customer who came to him when he had just finished his journey to becoming a forging master. He said that the man nearly burnt down the area around them when he asked the man to show off his abilities. The man was an elemental. I'm assuming that you are one too. And I am also assuming that you don't know how rare the gift is." _Harry gave a quick shake of his head to indicate that he didn't know much about the facts surrounding his abilities. Aldric gave a small nod like Harry had only confirmed what he already knew._ "There have only been a few elementals throughout history, but they tend to make splashes in its pages. Whether it be from the wizard being power hungry or from the government of the time trying to control something that was out of its sphere of influence. Just be careful of showing these abilities before you are fully ready for the backlash. You might never be left alone once you step into the spotlight."

 _The lengthy explanation ended with the aging man pulling out his wand and waving it towards the back. This action caused various boxes and jars to come zooming to the table next to the two._ "If you would be willing could you please see if any of these parts create that special spark?" _Harry shook his head and Aldric only tilted his head in askance._

"The reason I came into this shop was because I felt a slight pull on my magic. Nothing on this table is the object creating that feeling." _At the explanation Aldric gained a look of understanding before giving him a task._ "Well then why don't you reach out with your magic and see if you can connect with that tug."

 _With his objective now known Harry went to try and feel the pull that had made him enter the shop. Following the metaphorical string, he saw it split into two and continued into different parts of the store. Following the one to the left he finally found the item that was giving him the slight pull. Deciding to bring the item to him, he gave it a 'slight' tug. However instead of the bottle gently floating to him like he intended, it smashed through a glass jar before Harry had to duck to dodge the flying box that whizzed just above his head before hitting the inside of the store's front wall. Getting back up from below the desk Harry had a guilty look set upon his face. When the boy looked up at the older man he saw Aldric doing his very best to not start convulsing with laughter._

"Hahahahahaha." _Aldric finally let out._ "Maybe just a little less power this time."

 _Harry gave a sheepish nod before following the string of magic again. This time the string led almost straight towards the back of the shop. Deciding to take it a little easier this time, he chose a different method. Instead of giving the item a tug, he started reeling it in like one would with a fishing pole. Slowly a jar of green powder came from the back shelves and gently landed on the table. After it landed harry got up from his seat and went to pick up the box from his first attempt at bringing his wand components to him. When both components were sitting in front of Aldric the man took a closer look at them._

 _He then pointed to the jar that Harry had brought out second._ This is powder that comes from the crushed scale of a sea serpent in this" _he said pointing to the box_ "is wood from a water oak that sits in Greece. It currently resides just outside the temple that is dedicated to Poseidon. Fitting don't you think." _He gave a look to both components._ "Both pieces are equally interesting. For starters, water oaks tend to wither and die with a short lifespan. However this specific tree has been standing since the days of ancient Greece. Whether it is protected by a wizard's doing or by divine intervention I do not know." _He then picked up the jar._ "The sea serpent used to roam the ocean free to do as they pleased. But as the naval power of the european countries grew they started to get hunted for sport. They were seen as the ultimate predator of the oceans and many thought that by slaying them they could gain some or all of the beasts power. All this accomplished was driving the species to near extinction. There are still some that roam the seas but sightings are few and far between. This was a scale taken from one of the last serpents to be hunted before the hunting of them was banned by the governments for fear of completely eradicating the species." _He then gave a hum in thought._ "Normally the cost for these parts would be quite high." _This caused Harry to slightly panic. He only had the money that he had lifted off of the man from earlier._ "But since you shared a very personal secret with me and the fact that I probably will never sell any wand with these parts, let us set the price at nine galleons."

 _Harry let out a sigh of relief. He then pulled the pouch out of his pocket and pulled out one galleon before dumping the rest into his opposite hand. He then fave the stack of gold to the man in front of him. Accepting the payment the man started to move towards the back of the shop. Pausing at the door that presumably led to his work station he looked back before stating_ "the wand should be done in a few hours. Will you still be in alley?" _Harry gave a nod._ "Then I bid you adieu." _With that said Aldric slipped through the doorway and closed the door behind him._

 _Harry then had the dilemma of how he should spend the next few hours. Flipping the last galleon he had between his knuckles he walked out of the store. Looking around for what he wanted to do to kill time he saw a building that could possibly help him. Looking like a replica of the one in Britain, the Gringotts stood tall, proud, and gleaming above the surrounding buildings. He hadn't been able to find France's magical population before now, so he had no way of accessing any of his funds. But now that he was here he might able to ease his living situation considerably._

 _Walking up to the front doors he saw armored goblins standing at attention on either side. He gave them a slight nod as he walked through the doors of the bank. Looking for a line to enter he saw a few tellers available. Walking to the closest one he stood in front of the desk and waited for the teller to signal to him. The seconds stretched into minutes as Harry's face grew more and more pinched. Having enough of being ignored Harry cleared his throat._

 _The goblin reluctantly looked up from the paperwork that he had been doing._ "Is there something you need, child." _he spoke in a harsh tone. Harry wanted to send back a biting retort but then thought better of it. He really needed the goblin's help._ "I was just wondering if I could be taken to someone that can do tests to see what assets I have at my disposal." _Harry said this in the most polite tone he possessed. The goblin just peered down at him from the desk._ "We can. For a fee." _This worried Harry. He didn't have any money beyond the galleon readily available._

"Would it be possible to pay from one of the vaults that would show up from my tests?" _Harry asked the teller._

 _The teller gave a low growl_ "And what if you don't have any vaults?"

 _Harry leaned in so that he wouldn't be overheard._ "My last name is Potter. I know that I have my trust vault. I just want to see if I have any other money at my disposal."

"Fine. But if you are lying there will be severe consequences." _Harry nodded his head that he understood then followed the teller as he hopped off of his seat. He trailed the goblin through the various twists and turns that made up the halls of Gringotts. They finally stopped in front of a door that held a plaque that held the words_ "Gnarltooth: inheritances and rituals". _The goblin knocked on the door and waited for a response. When he got an affirmative answer he started to turn around._ "This is where I leave you. For your sake I really hope you weren't lying." _He walked away with a nasty grin plastered across his face. Harry put on a face of confidence and then pushed the door open. Harry was surprised when he saw the goblin behind the desk. Instead of looking like most of the tellers who had greying hair and wrinkles, this one had a small black goatee with a full head of combed black hair._

 _Without looking up from his papers Gnarltooth pointed to the seat in front of Harry._ "Sit." _Harry did so almost immediately. He could feel that Gnarltooth was much more dangerous than the teller he had just had the pleasure of dealing with. When the department manager finally lifted his head from the papers it had been buried in, he just stared at Harry. Without saying anything or giving any warning Gnarltooth put a bowl and a knife in front of Harry. The implication was clear. Harry nervously picked up the knife. Bracing himself for the pain he expected to come he sliced his palm and was surprised when he felt none. He looked at his hand to see the wound slowly closing. After a few seconds the blank parchment in front Gnarltooth started to get filled out. The goblin waited for the writing to stop before speaking._

"It appears you were telling the truth Mr. Potter. Sorry for the hostility. Would you like to go over the results?" _Despite the previous tension Harry gave an excited nod._ "Look over the sheet and then you can ask me any questions you have.

 _Name: Hadrian Potter_

 _Mother: Lily Potter nee Evans_

 _Father: James Potter_

 _Inheritances_

 _Second son of Potter main line_

 _Possible heir of the Peverells_

 _Vaults_

 _Potter trust vault: 1000 galleons. To be refilled upon birthday until majority_

 _Abilities_

 _Water elemental_

 _Partial metamorphmagus_

 _Harry looked up from reading the paper. It was nice to know that he had a bit of money to fall back on. He was still confused by one thing though._ "What does it mean by possible heir of the Peverells?"

 _Gnarltooth had an expectant look upon his face when he asked the question._ "The Peverells are an extremely old family although the name has since died out. They last generation of Peverells only had one daughter and she married into the Potter line. The title of Lord Peverell was not one that was just passed down from father to son. To promote strength in the family the founder of the line created the Lord's ring that would test if one was worthy of leading the family. Ever since the name has died out their has not been a Lord Peverell. A few of the Potters have tried to claim the title but the ring has rejected them. The ring only tests a person once."

 _Harry looked intrigued at the story._ "Would it be possible to try the ring on?" _Gnarltooth gave him a piercing look._ "You do understand that if you should fail that you will not get another chance to lead the house correct?"

 _Harry gave an affirmative nod._ "I get that I only get one chance. I know I'm ready." _With his confirmation given, Gnarltooth turned back to his desk before sending a pulse of magic into it. He waited until the cabinet glowed before he opened it to reveal a case now inside of the previously empty drawer._

 _He placed the case down in front of Harry._ "Good luck Mr. Potter. I hope you live up to your own expectations." _Harry looked down at the case with trepidation before reaching down and opening it. On the cushions lay a ring made of obsidian that had a small indent in the center for what looked to be a small gem, however it was empty. The back of the small indent held the Peverell coat of arms, a triangle with a circle connecting the three sides and a line bisecting the circle. Harry took a deep breath to calm his racing heart before putting the ring on. The second the ring was resting on his finger it felt like a foreign substance was injected into his magic. It raced all around his body, continuously searching. For what Harry did not know. After what felt like ages the feeling slipped away. Panicking because of the loss of feeling, he looked up to see Gnarltooth smiling._

"Congratulations Mr. Potter. Or should I say Lord Peverell." _Harry looked back to his hand only to see that the ring had resized to fit his hand. He let out a sigh of relief. Gnarltooth then pointed at the previously used bowl._ "If you could put some more blood in there we can get the updated results. _Harry grabbed the knife and cut his palm in the same place. The paper started to fill out in a similar fashion as it did previously. Harry took a look at the new results and saw that most of it was the same, though there were some minor changes._

 _Name: Hadrian Potter_

 _Mother: Lily Potter nee Evans_

 _Father: James Potter_

 _Inheritances_

 _Second son of Potter main line_

 _Lord Peverell_

 _Vaults_

 _Potter trust vault: 1,000 galleons. To be refilled upon birthday until majority_

 _Peverell Family vault: 15,000 galleons. Assorted tomes and weapons_

 _Abilities_

 _Water elemental_

 _Partial metamorphmagus_

 _Harry thought about the amount and found that it was a good amount to start with, but he would need to start making his own money within the next few years. He then looked up at gnarltooth with a confused look._ "I thought you said the Peverells were an ancient family. What happened to all of the wealth?"

"Most of the wealth went to the Potter family after the Peverell name died out, however the Peverells were borderline obsessive about collecting knowledge. Many of the tomes inside of the vault are one of a kind or extremely rare. The tomes haven't been touched for years due to the fact that only a Peverell could come and take them out." _Harry gained a determined look._ "Would it be possible to put all of those books in an expanded trunk with all of the security charms you guys can put on it?" _Harry asked of the goblin._

"We can. However you will need to sign this document authorizing it as well as a 500 galleon fee. This fee covers the cost of the trunk, ritual, and the labor of getting all of the books."

 _Harry went and signed the parchment. Gnarltooth then took the parchment._ "Would you like the money to be taken from the trust vault or the Peverell vault?" _Harry was about to reply from the Potter vault but then a thought occurred to him. If he started taking money out of his trust vault then his parents would be able to see the transactions. He didn't want the possibility of having to deal with them._ "Take it from the Peverell vault." _He then went to ask a question._ "Do you guys do muggle credit cards?"

 _Gnarltooth nodded._ "We do. We usually have a 3% transaction fee for the conversion, but since the Peverell's have been with the bank since the beginning we will waive that charge."

 _Harry bowed his head in thanks. They lapsed into silence as they waited for Harry's request to go through. Harry was sitting in the office for thirty minutes before a goblin came into the office with a trunk on his shoulder. He then set it down and shrunk it before handing it to Harry._ "Tap the chest when you want to unshrink it. The lock is keyed to your blood. If this will be all Lord Peverell, then I bid you a good day. Ripfang will lead you to the lobby."

 _Harry gave a slight bow as he left the office and followed the goblin through the hallway. Before long they were back in the lobby and Harry quickly exited the building. Harry looked at the large clock that was on the front of the building. Seeing that he had been in the bank for five hours, he started to head back to Favagers. Walking into the store he saw Aldric sitting at the table that his wand parts had once sat on. He also had an inviting grin on his face._ "Twelve and a half inches. Good as a jack of all trades in magic but is suited to cast the elemental magic you possess. Why don't you give wave?"

 _The wand was a deep brown with grooves along the sides that looked like rolling waves. Harry picked up the wand and felt a surge of power go through his body. His magic sung at being united with the main instrument it would now use. Aldric just nodded before he started to get up and walked to the back of the store._ "I expect to see your splash in the upcoming years young elemental." _With his statement finished he completely disappeared into the sight._

 _Knowing a dismissal when he heard one, he left the shop in a hurry. Almost running through the street he went through the entrance door and exited out of the pub back into muggle Paris. He had some books to learn from._

Triton slowly stopped twirling his wand as he looked out of the window. It was dark outside. He had lost a day due to reminiscing. Oh well it's not like he actually had anything to do. With that thought he walked back to his bed and crashed down on it. The pain of dredging up these memories making him feel exhausted.


	3. Meeting the Family

**Disclaimer: obviously I only own the idea of my story and not that of the original author of this series.**

' _French thoughts'_

" _French speech"_

'English thoughts'

"English speech"

This method is reversed in flashbacks

 **AN: I wanted to give you guys an idea of my time schedule and how I'm trying to update. I'm currently in college and I work weekends. The amount of homework I have will depend on the week and my work schedule rarely changes. However I will endeavor to get at least one chapter a week out if not more. I don't have a beta so the chapters are never proofread. If there are any grammatical errors then I apologize. I hope I can make a story that you guys will want to stay with. Also for any PMs anyone might send me I will rarely see them. The only time I log into this account is to upload stories. So if you are looking for a response please don't be too disappointed if it takes a few days.**

 **To whoever was commenting about the forging, I was going to give an explanation as to why a chose the word forging instead of crafting but I wanted to get the chapter done before I went to bed and it was already 5 in the morning so I didn't feel like going back and putting in an explanation that would have taken at least another half hour. The explanation will be in a future chapter**

Chapter 3: Meeting the Family

Triton slowly rose from the bad that he had crashed on. That wasn't a rare occurrence. After many missions he would come home exhausted and just collapse onto the bed in his full armor. This time was different however. Usually he crashes because of physical exhaustion after completing a mission. This time it was because of the mental pain that had come from sifting through his past. Memories he would have rather left behind when he left his old life behind. This was the first time he had thought about Britain in a while as it was unimportant to him or his work. He generally just had to worry about things in France.

Walking over to the kitchen area of his apartment, he felt around under the sink for a moment before he felt the groove he was looking for. Pushing his magic into the mark, he was rewarded with a light click. He reached into the small hole that had been created and grabbed the small item he had hidden there. He pulled out the item and put it on the counter before unshrinking it. As he looked at his multi compartment trunk. This was the reason that he didn't have many decorations around his apartment. Anything and everything that he considered valuable was placed in the trunk. It was his way of not being tied down to one place. He could uproot his life in moments and not worry about anything left behind.

He couldn't stop the smirk at the thought of the poor soul who tried to get into it. Triton had all of the standard self cleaning, expansion, impervious, and featherweight charms placed upon the trunk. He also had a few protections that could turn particularly nasty. The first one was a simple blood seal followed by a password. The next was a magical signature check. The final protection was a temperature gauge. One would have to get the lock to -20 degrees C. All of these checks were encompassed by an intent reading ward. If it read anything other than the simple desire to grab one's own things then all the other checks wouldn't matter they trunk would lock until that specific magical signature left the vicinity. That didn't mention the curses that had been put on the trunk to protect it. The level of severity of the curse that would be used was based on the what the intent of the robber was. For instance if he lost his trunk and a kid happened to find it, the natural curiosity of the kid would merely get him stunned. If a robber came with the full intent to steal to cause anger or pain for Triton then the robber would be frozen and hit with a reducto. This would effectively scatter pieces of him around the room. There were various curses for the different intents, however they all had one thing in common. Once the security protocol was tripped the trunk would start sending out a magical beacon on a magical frequency that only Triton knew.

Opening his trunk he rummaged around before pulling out his armor. He looked over his Ukrainian Ironbelly cloak for any tears or damages, however unlikely that might be. He pulled on his dark blue cloak and boots before closing the trunk. He put it on a chain around his neck and started heading for the door of his apartment. As he neared the door he saw his reflection in the mirror. Cursing at his near slip he started to change. Slowly his hair changed back into his light blue as his eyes became the color of the ocean. Giving himself a once of in the mirror he found his appearance how he wanted. He then pulled up his hood and cast a notice-me-not before walking out of his apartment. Triton walked into the alley behind his apartment building before disappearing with nary a sound.

When he landed he ended up in another alley, this one dirtier than the last. He walked out onto the sidewalk before turning to a restaurant/bar and walking under the sign that hosted the name _Les Inadept_ _és_. The place where he had started his journey into this life.

 _It had been around a year since Harry had claimed his inheritance at Gringotts. He had been able to secure an apartment. All it took was a small confundus charm on the landlord and any question about why an eleven year old needed an apartment was lost._

 _He still pickpocketed people. He didn't need to do it but he convinced himself that he was just keeping his magical skills from getting rusty. During one of his adventures out into the city he had pickpocketed a man who was wearing a decent leather jacket. That usually meant that they had a tidy little sum of money in it. Checking for any outside interference, Harry found none. It was dark and it was only him and the man on the street. Checking a strand of hair to make sure his normal disguise was on he turned back to the man. He was completely oblivious to the wallet being floated out of his pocket. However just as the wallet reached Harry's outstretched hand. The man felt in his pockets and suddenly turned around to see Harry holding his wallet._

"You little brat. Get back here." _Harry started running. He dodged through various back streets and alleys. After running for about a kilometer Harry thought he had lost him and hid behind a dumpster in an empty alleyway. He was just about to pull out the wallet to check the score that he had grabbed before he felt a hand on his shoulder accompanied voice._

"There you are you little shit. Gimme back my wallet you thief." _Panic started to flood through Harry's system. He turned towards where he felt the hand coming from and stared into the angry eyes of the man he had pickpocketed. The man took a step back and started cracking his knuckles._ "Give it back before I decide to stop being lenient and I start teaching you a lesson about what happens to thieves."

 _This sent Harry's heartbeat racing even faster. The overwhelming need to be somewhere else filled his mind. He suddenly felt a squeezing sensation that he recognized as apparition form whenever Sirius would come and take him somewhere. When the sensation left he ended up sprawling into a couple trashcans in an alley. Thinking the apparition had failed he looked around frantically for the man who was threatening him earlier. Not finding the man, Harry started to survey the surroundings. He noted that the alley was a little wider and not cluttered with as much trash as the previous alley was. Trying to figure out he was wondering about why his magic reacted like that. This was the first time he had done any accidental magic since the day he had been taken._

 _A sudden clanging broke his musings. A man had just come out the side door of the building on one side of the alley. When Harry looked he saw a man holding a cigarette. He hadn't seemed to notice Harry just looking at him yet. He seemed to see a shape out of the corner of his eye because he snapped his head towards Harry._

"Piss off kid, before you get hu…" _He trailed off when he saw the fat wallet that was still in Harry's hand._ "On second thought. Hand over the wallet before you leave." _Harry shook his head. He wasn't going to give up his score to some random guy._

"Guess we have to do this the hard way huh." _he said as he reached into his jacket. He pulled out what Harry thought he wouldn't see unless he went back to the maison de la magie. A wand._ "Last chance kid. Hand it over before this gets ugly."

 _At this Harry grew angry. He was done with adults threatening him just because he was a kid. He also didn't have hide his magic, as this man was obviously a wizard._ "You can take it from me if you would like." _Harry told the man. The man just laughed._ "Have it your way kid."

 _The man sent a stunning spell straight towards Harry. Harry slid to the left to avoid being hit. The assailant let out a growl._ "Just stand still so I can go back to my smoke break." _he kept advancing on Harry while shooting stunners. As he got closer he got more and more annoyed from his inability to hit the kid._ "Stop moving you little pest and give me the money."

 _As he finished the statement he walked over a sewage grate and that's when Harry decided to act. Using his water powers he sent a strong column of water out of the grate and slamming into the attacker. The man got slammed into the wall and was knocked out. His wand had clattered to the ground and rolled away._

 _Suddenly the door that the man had come out of slammed open again and this time four came out. Three of them were holding wands aloft while the largest one was holding a sword at the ready._

 _Getting himself prepared to have to fight off these men too, he was surprised when one of the men looked at the one who was attacking Harry before bursting into laughter._

"Hahahaha. Did you do this?" _he asked Harry. Harry gave a nervous nod. The man gave another chuckle._ "Man, I knew he was the weakest one in the group, but to be taken down by a kid. That just shows that we shouldn't let him be at this bar." _The man was talking to the people next to him._

 _The largest one sheathed his swords and started walking towards Harry with his hands up in the universal sign of meaning no harm. Harry had a wary look as the man approached him. He stopped a few steps in front of Harry. He leaned down before reasking the question that the man had asked him previously._ "You knocked him out correct?" _Again, Harry gave a nod._

"Can I get your name?" _Harry gave a thought for a second. He almost gave the name Hadrian before thinking better of it. He wanted to leave that part of his life behind._ "Triton. My name is Triton." _The man gave him a look like he didn't believe that was his true name but didn't press the issue any further._ My name is Jim and I own this club. You were skilled enough to knock out Etienne, even if he was the weakest of our group. I run handling for mercenaries that come through this bar. Do you think you would want to be a part of this?"

 _Harry stared at Jim and thought about the possibilities. Here was a chance to finally get stronger and earn some money._ "I want to join. Is there anything I need to do?" _Jim reached out his hand._ "Just take my hand. Think of it as a leap of faith." _Harry tentatively took the outstretched hand._ "Welcome, Triton, to the Misfits." _That was when his journey into his current line of work truly began._

As he entered he found himself the recipient of stares from around 20 people. As he pulled down his hood people began to recognize him and turn back to their business. Triton continued towards the bar. Reaching it and taking a seat, he then called for the Jim. After doing so he heard a voice from behind him.

" _Are we just going to let a kid go and get something at the bar. What type of business is this?" A man stated._

Triton smirked. It appeared that they had a legitimate customer. They were always amusing. The man just kept on complaining.

" _I'm going to go tell the police about this and get you shut down. You can't serve minors."_ The man got up and started to walk for the door. He didn't make it two steps before half a dozen red bolts collided with his body and he sank like a sack of potatoes.

" _I'll get him. I'll just wipe his memory and make him think he had a fall walking down the street."_ This statement came from a small, wiry man sitting in the middle of the restaurant. Jim took that time to walk out of the back.

" _Thanks Claude."_ Claude just nodded back. Claude was in his early thirties and had a rather forgettable face. With brown eyes, short brown hair, and a weaker jaw he looked like someone you would never pick out of a crowd. That was also what he used to his advantage. His specialty laid within glamours, illusionary magic, ward breaking, and memory charms. He mostly took jobs that included infiltration, assassination, or thieving. He was the guy to call if you wanted someone to get initiated into a group for a later purpose.

Claude just nodded back. " _No problem Jim."_ With that he threw the man over his shoulder like he weighed nothing but that might have been because of the featherweight charm.

Jim turned back to Harry. Jim was a burly man with hard black eyes and a bald head who had tattoos that littered his body. If one would look closer they would see that each tattoo had a rune hidden within the art. Each rune had a different use. The reason for the runes was because he couldn't manifest magic. That wasn't to say that he couldn't use magic. For whatever reason, he was born without the ability to cast spells. The magic that he had couldn't manifested outside of his body. For that reason he had made something unique to him and him alone. Using the runes that he had across his body, he could augment his body with with special effects. Whether it be the ability to run faster, have more magic resistant skin, or to hit harder they could all be used to devastating effects. That, coupled with the swords he used, made him a very proficient close quarters fighter. He was also the resident arithmancy master. He was the guy to go to if you had any items that you wanted to upgrade. Jim would research the object and then tell the person the best way to upgrade it to what they wished for.

" _What can I get for you today Triton? There's a group meeting being called later this week for a joint task force."_ Jim asked. The restaurant was a front for Jim. He was the man who got most of the jobs for the mercenaries. There were two ways to get a job from the bar. Either there was a job with a request for a specific person or it was posted on the board for anyone to pick up. While Jim tried his best to try to not get jobs that went against each other, there were a couple times where jobs had overlapped. In those situations there was only one rule. Don't bring it back to the bar. Anybody fighting in the bar would be thrown out and unable to get work from it for the next month. The next offence was a permanent ban from the bar as well the ire of the other mercenaries for causing trouble. Gaining the ire of mercenaries was a dangerous thing. Some of the more ill tempered ones would be looking for jobs where you were on the other side just so they could get a shot at you. That being said, Triton tried to always be on his best behaviour.

" _I'm not here looking for work right now. I just came to deliver a message and ask for a favor. I won't be accepting work for the next few weeks. If someone comes and asks for me specifically, just give them my apologies."_ After Triton said that Jim gave him a barely perceptible nod.

" _I can do that. What are you going to work on?"_ Jim asked.

" _A new one for me. Protecting a rich guy and his family. That's all I can tell you."_ Triton replied.

" _Bodyguarding? What got you into that business?_

" _Money. It pays well. It just might take some time. I don't foresee too many problems in the future."_

" _Be careful. You never know when those words might bite you in the ass."_

" _Noted."_ he then turned and started walking out of the bar. " _I'll be seeing the rest of you guys at a later date."_ There were a few goodbyes and a couple of raised glasses. While many of the people in here weren't friends with each other, there was a sense of comradery, at least while they weren't on jobs. If anyone met while on a job they would be at the other's throat in a heartbeat.

Walking out the door, Triton was thinking about anything else he might need to do. Quickly coming upon the last thing he needed to do, he proceeded to apparate around France. Each apparition took him to one of his hideaways. From there he proceeded to put it in lockdown for the foreseeable future. While the chances of someone finding any one of them, he would rather not take the chance. He usually left the wards around them lighter so that he could have an easier time getting in if a job went south. Now he was putting the wards on full power so that no one would be getting through until his job was done. After he was done activating his the last of the wards he then disappeared.

He reappeared in the alley he had left from. He walked up the three flights of stairs before getting onto his floor. He walked up to his door before grabbing the handle and twisting. There was no need to lock the door. Wards took care of all the would be intruders. He slowly started taking off his his cloak and boots and let his appearance change back to normal before taking off his necklace. Unshrinking the trunk, he placed his items back inside before returning the trunk to its previous hiding place. He wandered over to his recliner before plopping down in it. It was rare that he ever had any time off. Even if he did get to choose when he worked he still liked to keep himself busy. It let him focus on the now rather than giving him a chance to reflect on things he didn't want to. Reaching for the remote that was sitting on the arm of the chair, he turned on the T.V. and started flipping through the channels. He landed on a movie called _Forrest Gump_. Deciding that it was good enough, he just laid back and eventually fell asleep to the movie playing in the background.

Jolted awake by a sudden noise, Triton looked around before remembering that it was just the alarm he had set. He looked at the clock and saw that he had a couple of hours before he needed to be at the Delacour's. Walking into the bathroom, he started running the hot water. He went through all of his morning rituals before going into the kitchen to make himself breakfast. He made himself some sausage, bacon, and eggs before sitting down to eat. Once he had finished, he took his trunk out from under the sink and put on his dragonhide cloak and boots before altering his appearance. He decided that it was best to be early to meeting with a client. He gathered up the dishes before washing them and putting them on the drying rack. He walked out of his apartment, down the steps and into the alley from yesterday. Apparating to the spot that he had left from, Triton appeared behind the treeline. Looking at the house that he had previously broken into, he started thinking about the family inside. The one that he would now have to protect with his life.

Deciding that it would be quite rude to break into the house that he would soon come to protect. He was internally debating on how to get the Delacour's attention. Finally coming up with a way, he balled a small amount of magic on the end of his finger and flicked it at the wards. What he was doing had the same effect as throwing pebbles at a window. When the magic hit the wards it would send a small alert to the person who was connected to them. This usually had the effect of making the person inside the house come to check the front. Triton saw a shape appear at the window. It seemed to peer out at the front of the house for a few seconds and then disappeared. Around thirty seconds later the front door opened and Bastien walked out wand in hand.

As Bastien reached the ward line he raised his wand and pointed it at Triton. Triton had pulled out his own when he saw Bastien walking down the path towards him. He kept his wand in at a lower angle to show that he wasn't being openly hostile, but still in a place that he could protect himself. When he finally reached the ward line, Bastien asked a question while still holding his wand at Triton.

" _What was the first thing that I said before you burst into my office?"_

Triton racked his brain for a moment before answering " _I told you guys I didn't wish to be disturbed."_

Lowering his wand, the elder man gave Triton an apology. " _Sorry about that. Can't be too careful now can you?"_

Triton gave a shrug. At least one of his clients took his safety seriously. It was a few seconds before he felt the wards have a slight decrease in power.

" _There. You should be able to come and go to this house freely now. Of course I will still know. Come, my family is …..anticipating meeting you."_ Bastien spoke. He then turned and started making his way back to the house with Triton only a few step behind him. Triton finally had a chance to take a good look at the chateau. It had been the middle of the night the previous time he had been here and the darkness had hidden things that he could now see. The entire building spanned the height of three floors. It had various windows throughout the house, though some were blacked out with magic so that they couldn't be seen through from the outside. He had missed the paintings on the walls of the house the last time he had been here. What looked to be avian creatures were put up at various points around the house to make it seem like they were the lookouts of the house.

They finally reached the front door. He looked at Bastien as the man put his hand on the center of the door for a brief period. A slight glow was the only indication that anything had happened before the man pushed open the door. Obviously the door had a magical signature ward tied to it. They walked into the house and down a hallway before they got to the entrance of the parlour. Sitting on one of the couches were three women. One who had an ageless beauty about her. She was slightly ahead of the other two in a subtle sign of protection. The next was a little older than him. She stared at him with slight annoyance. He couldn't think of anything he could have done to make her be annoyed by him. The last one was a child around the age of eight or nine. She looked to be excited to meet him, but was too shy to be the one who was going to break the ice for the group.

The eldest Delacour cleared his throat. " _Triton, I would like you to meet my wife Appoline."_ Triton took a good look at her. She had light blonde hair and azure blue eyes that were looking at him with a slightly weary look. Looking at the other parts of her face, he could find no sign that she was actually aging. Only smooth skin with supple lips. She looked to be shorter than her husband. Somewhere around 165 cm. Her magic seemed to be tightly coiled, like she was ready for anything to happen

" _My eldest daughter Fleur."_ His eyes shifted to the next person on the couch. Like her mother, she had light blonde hair and azure blue eyes. Eyes that still held that annoyed look. Even with the look, he face held a certain amount of beauty that was unattainable by normal human standards. She was what all models tried to be. She look to be around 175 cm. Her magic was the opposite from her mother's. It was flaring at random intervals. She didn't even seem to care that this was happening.

" _And finally my youngest, Gabriel."_ When he looked at the last member of the family he could only see half of her. The other half was hidden behind Fleur. Following the trend of both of the elder women, she had light blonde hair and azure blue eyes. These eyes weren't irritated with him. Instead they held the innocence of a child. One that he would try to protect the best he could. She had a look of childish exuberance and her young face, which had a button nose along with some baby fat that had yet to completely fade. If she was standing she couldn't have been more than 125 cm. Her mafic was the most wild of the three, but that was to be expected. She didn't have a wand and probably didn't have any training in magic.

" _Everyone, this is Triton."_ After a pregnant pause where no one deigned to speak, Triton went over to one of the chairs that faced the whole family and sat down.

Fleur's eyes shifted off of Triton and were now glaring at her father. " _You said you were getting protection. How is a little boy going to be able to protect us better than any auror or you yourself could? Merlin even I could probably do better than he could."_

'Aaaahhhhh so that's what she was so annoyed about. She thinks I'm not necessary. She also has an independent streak with a dash of actual talent to back up her statement. However she doesn't know what she's up against nor the experience of ever being in a real fight. Slight ignorance paired with bullheadedness is not going to be an task.'

Not knowing the thoughts going on in Triton's head, Bastien let out an exasperated sigh. " _Come on Fleur we've talked about this. I can't protect you everywhere and he is the best person I could find for the job."_

Fleur gave a small huff before muttering under her breath. It wasn't loud enough for her father to here, but Triton certainly did. " _Must not have been good choices then."_

Appoline gave Fleur a sharp look. Fleur had the decency to look slightly sheepish, however she didn't apologize. 'It's more likely she's embarrassed that she got caught.' Triton thought.

Triton decided to nip this problem in the bud. " _If your daughter thinks that she is more than adequate to defend herself then why not put it to the test."_ Bastien gave him a slightly confused look. Looking back to Fleur, Triton started to speak to her. " _A duel between you and me. If I win then you have to accept the choices that your father made for your protection this time. If you win then it will have shown that you have no need for me and will, of course, leave you to your own devices. Is that ok with you?"_ He said the last part to Bastien. When he received a nod, he turned his attention back to Fleur. " _Do you accept the terms?"_

Fleur had a determined look upon her face. Here was a chance to show her father that she wasn't a little girl who needed to be babied. Especially not by someone younger than her. " _They sound great to me."_ she replied as she accepted the challenge with no small amount of haughtiness.

When Triton turned back to Bastien to ask him to officiate the duel, he found that the man had a small frown on his face as his head shook slightly.

Bastien was disappointed in his daughter. He had always taught her to never dive into a situation without knowing at least most of the facts. Now here she was challenging an unknown opponent whose skills and fighting tendencies were completely foreign. He knew his daughter's pride was at an all time high since she managed to become Beauxbatons' duelling champion the previous year. Now that pride was getting her into a potentially dangerous situation. At least it was in their own home where he could make sure that she wasn't going to get any serious injuries. He thought a few bruises might add a little bit of extra strength behind the lessons that he had been trying to get through to her. The first was that she needed to not underestimate things. The second was that age didn't necessarily denote magical strength and capabilities. Someone who was younger than Fleur could be one of the deadliest people in the country. The evidence of that was standing right in front of him. Triton had one of the highest kill counts for someone who had been in his line of work for as short of a time as he had could only hope that his daughter didn't get too injured in the fight.

" _Will you officiate the fight?"_ Triton asked Bastien. " _Yes. Just don't hurt her too bad. No hospital visits."_ Triton chuckled at the answer. " _Don't worry. I just want see where her skill level is at."_ With that said, Bastien went to the back yard to transfigure a duelling stage.

Right after she had accepted the challenge from Triton, she had raced upstairs to grab her duelling robes. She wasn't going to be outdone by some kid who thought he was playing bodyguard. She was going to show him and her father that she could take care of herself. She couldn't help the self assured grin that spread across her face at the thought of her father finally having to accept that she wasn't a little kid anymore. When she got finished putting her robes on, she walked down the stairs with a look of pure determination on her face. Nothing was going to get in the way of her victory

When she reached the back yard she saw that her father had set up a duelling platform. She saw Triton standing on one end and walked to the other. Her father was standing slightly off to the side of the platform with a disappointed look on his face. She internally scowled. She would show him that she had the skills to win this duel.

When she finally walked up the steps to get on her side of the platform, her father started walking to the edge of the stage. " _This will be a friendly duel. No lethal or permanently damaging spells are allowed. Are both duelists ready?"_ They both nodded to answer his question. " _Then both duelists bow."_ Both duelists bowed, but whereas Fleur went down in a 45 degree bow, Triton only gave a slight inclination of his head. Angry at the perceived snub, a scowl grew on Fleur's face. They each turned and walked their ten paces before turning back to face each other. Fleur closed her eyes and centered herself before slowly got into her duelling stance, which was a sideways stance with legs bent and her right arm, her wand arm, closest to her opponent. Opening her eyes she sees that her challenger hadn't even got into a stance. He was just standing there with his arms crossed and an impassive face. Fleur's scowl deepened. ' _He isn't even taking this seriously'_ she thought furiously. She was going to make him regret that.

" _On the count of 3._

 _1._

 _2._

 _3."_

When her father reached three she immediately sent a stunner towards Triton expecting it to be a fast win. He didn't seem to be about to move. She grinned as she saw the spell barreling down the distance between them. Right before the spell could hit Triton, he imperceptibly flicked his wrist upwards, and her spell veered of course over his right shoulder. The grin slowly slid off her face. She didn't know how she had missed. He didn't even move. She sent a volley of spells at Triton. Each one narrowly missing, just like her first spell. She narrowed her eyes. There was no way she would miss four spells in a row on a moving target. He still hadn't fired a spell back yet, which meant he still wasn't taking this seriously. She then had an idea. Shooting three stunners in quick succession she quickly followed it up with an overpowered bonebreaker before following it up with a final stunner. Her plan was to have him think that all the spells were stunners that he could merely disregard while hiding the bonebreaker in the back of the chain.

Triton raised his arm and put up a shield in front of him. He could sense the bonebreaker that she had slid into her chain. 'At least she's finally getting serious.' Triton thought. 'I was getting bored of all the stunners. After the spells splashed harmlessly against his shield, there seemed to be a lull in the battle. 'Is she tired out already?' he thought.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the platform, Fleur was nearly snarling. Nothing she had been doing had been working. ' _He hasn't even moved from his original spot for Merlin's sake.'_ she thought. Her eyes were nearly glowing with intensity. She decided that she was at least going to get him to move from that spot. She transfigured three of the rocks around her into dogs that she then sent running at Triton. Instead of panicking, or at the very least moving like she thought he would, he just made one slashing motion with his wand and cast one long cutting curse that ripped through all three of the dogs. The dogs slowly morphed back into the rocks that they had been made from. The rocks slowly tumbled forward, the momentum from the dogs running had not been lost. The rocks slowly rolled to a stop before each of the split in two from where the dogs had been hit by the cutting curse.

Fleur was getting so angry. ' _Nothing I do seems to be working. I haven't been able to get him to move his feet and either my spells don't connect or his shield just stops them. What the hell am I supposed to do now?'_ she thought. Deciding to throw all caution to the wind she started to walk towards Triton, all the while she started chaining spells together in desperation for this one last gambit. Bonebreakers, stunners, disarmers, reductors, were being tossed at him with as much power as she could muster. She even through a couple cutting curses in there for good measure. Each and every spell met the same fate. They all splashed harmlessly off his shield as she continued to get closer to him. " _Fight back."_ she screamed at him. Ironically, that would be the last thing said in the fight as she was not ready for the red bolt that came careening at her from the wand that had snapped up to be aimed at her. Because she was so close she had no time to dodge or erect a shield before the red bolt filled her vision before slamming into her. After that her world faded to black.

Harry just looked down disappointedly at the girl. 'Was this really all she had or was she underestimating me still. Either way it was a pitiful performance.' he thought. He walked over to where Bastien had been watching the match from.

" _I hope I kept the injuries to an acceptable level."_ he stated. The head of the Delacour family just gave a small humorless chuckle. " _To be honest I thought you were going to do a bit more than that. I had prepared myself to have to step in between you and my daughter."_ the man stated. " _She needed this wake up call."_ he told Triton. _She needed to know that she's not infallible. Her ego has been growing as of late and I didn't know how to stop it. Thank you for knocking her down a few pegs."_ After Bastien had finished talking he started walking to where Fleur was still on the ground, unconscious from the stunner he had hit her from close range. Bastien reached his daughter and cast an ennervate on her.

Fleur groaned as she was awoken from her forced sleep. She tried to think of how she got on the ground before she remembered being completely humiliated by Triton. He didn't see her as any sort of challenge, or even a small hurdle to get over. He had treated her like he would have treated an annoying fly. First he just blocked her attempts before he took her down with one spell. She couldn't even bear to look at him. She had been defeated by a boy 3 years her junior and he hadn't even moved from the spot he had started in. It was a blow to her pride to be so easily defeated. She had studied for years trying to become the best dueler at Beauxbatons. Now here she was getting beat while her opponent didn't break a sweat. Breaking out of these thoughts she then looked at the figure standing over her.

" _Are you okay Fleur? No lasting damage?"_ her father asked. " _No Papa. I'm not hurt."_ she then emphasized this point by stretching out. " _I think I'm going to retire for my room for the night. Goodnight Papa."_ She gave her father a kiss on the cheek before heading inside the house. Right as she got to the door she gave one last scathing glare at Triton before she reentered the house.

Bastien made his way to where Triton was still standing. " _Sorry about my daughter. I think you might have wounded her pride just a bit."_ he stated to the merc. " _She'll get over it eventually, just give her some time."_ Triton merely shrugged to signal that he didn't care whether or not she changed her attitude.

" _Could you show me to my room please?"_ Triton asked of his host. Bastien nodded. " _Right this way. It's on the second floor, near my office."_ They went up one short flight of stairs before getting to the landing. " _Your room is the second door on the right. The bathroom is straight across from you. If you need anything my room is the first door on the left on the third floor."_ Triton nodded and thanked his host. " _Thank you for abiding by my request to stay here. It will certainly make this job easier."_

" _As if you gave us much of a choice. You didn't really ask us more so than tell us but at least you are taking your job seriously. Good night Triton."_

" _Good night Monsieur Delacour. We will talk more about how I will be acting with the family and the information that I need to make that happen."_ he informed the eldest Delacour. With his piece said he went into his room so that he could get a good night's rest. He never knew what would be happening tomorrow. Around the same time that Triton was going to bed, there was a meeting going on in a room in Paris.

" _Hello everyone and thank you for coming. You are all here for the job offer that I sent to each of your handlers. I am glad to see that we have such a large turnout."_

After giving his greeting, he looked around the room. Around 30 people of various nationalities sat in front of him. All of them from the top hiring spots of their area of operation. About half the group were Frenchmen, a quarter of them were Spaniards, a few Italians, and a smattering of Romanians. He was excited to see how they all worked together. He was also looking forward to getting back at Bastien. He just knew that the Delacour head was responsible for the death of Bernard.

Seeing that he had the attention of all those in the room, he started to give out the details of what he had called them here for. " _Tonight, you have been asked her for a job offer. I am sorry to pull all of you away from your usual routines, however I didn't want to put this anywhere where the target might catch wind of it."_

" _That still doesn't explain what the job is."_ That statement came from one of the two Romanians who were sitting in the back.

" _Patience my friend, patience. All will be explained momentarily."_ He then waved his wand over the board and four pictures were disillusioned. " _This is the family that you will be going after. The man of the family is the current Head Auror of the French ministry and has been causing for me and my business partners a fair bit of trouble. What I want you guys to do is capture the women of his family. Once they are at our mercy I have no doubt that he will bend to our will. Any questions?"_

" _Where will we be hitting them?"_ one of the Spaniards asked.

" _This is where the opportunity to do this has come into play. The family will be going to the world cup and will be away from the wards of either their chateau or Beauxbatons."_ the man gave the setting where they would be grabbing the family.

" _What type of protection detail are we going to be up against?"_ the Italians chimed in with their question.

At this question the ringleader actually started to laugh. " _Haha. Monsieur Delacour thought it would be smart to higher one upstart kid to do the protection. This would be under the guise that he could blend in with the family. What an idiot!"_ He gave a few more chuckles.

However because he was laughing he missed the serious looks that came over half of the French wizards. The half that were centered out of the Paris instantly connected the dots about what Triton had mentioned a few days ago. The other half, the ones centered in Lyon, didn't know why their fellow countrymen suddenly became tense but were willing to see how it played out if they knew something that they didn't.

One of the Frenchmen spoke up. " _Did this kid have blue hair by any chance?"_ The ringleader slowly stopped laughing. " _Yes. How did you know that?"_ he returned a question to the one who had previously asked.

" _That 'upstart kid' as you so eloquently put it is the best that the misfits have on hand. I have seen what he can do and I would rather not be on the receiving end of whatever he is going to dish out."_ The Frenchmen from Lyon caught on to who he was referring to and were debating over what to do. On one hand this was the opportunity to show the misfits that they weren't the ones who ruled France. On the other hand they had seen what Triton had done to some of their best comrades. Bodies viciously torn apart with the parts littering the bathroom the fight had been in. They had later learned that their men had been assigned to assassinate a political figure that Triton had been defending.

At first they had thought it was just taking a little while for the job to be completed. When no word had reached them about the men's' status, they went looking for them. They went to the hotel that the diplomat had been staying in and felt the strong notice-me-not charms around one of the bathrooms. The sight that greeted them was not one they were expecting. Their men were sliced into pieces with no trace of the target. The Lion's Pride, the name of the group from Lyon, sent out feelers to see if anyone knew who had done this. They didn't learn until six months later that it had been Triton. While Triton had been on another guard duty he had torn apart some Englishmen in the same fashion as how he had killed their own. It was from that moment on that the Lion's Pride tended to avoid Paris.

Deciding that the risks heavily outweighed the reward, the de facto leader of the group nodded towards the door. Within the next 30 seconds all of the Frenchmen were clearing out of the room. All except for one. A young man named Pierre from Lion's Pride who hadn't been there for over a few months. He stayed seated. When he saw that all his fellows were leaving he turned around.

" _Are you all a bunch of cowards? We can finally show those Misfits that they aren't better than us. Why are you guys all walking away?"_ The de facto leader stopped and turned around.

" _There is a time and place for fighting. There is also the ability to know when you are outmatched. You should get out of this while you still can."_ With his words of wisdom parted he continued on his way out of the door. Pierre got a pinched look on his face. " _Well I'm not going to run away like you cowards. I'm going to see this job through. Then I will be seen as one of the best in Lion's Pride."_ Pierre shouted at their backs.

Outside the meeting place one of the Misfits turned to the nearest Lion. " _You know he's going to die right?"_ The man gave a short nod. " _Ya he'll probably be one of the first ones. We warned him but he didn't want to heed it. It's his choice of what he wants to do. It's out of our hands now."_ With that being said, there were the telltale sounds of disapparition as the men started to disappear into the night.

Back in the meeting room the orchestrator had a scowl on his face. " _Is there anyone else who would like to leave?"_ Three of the Italians were communicating in low whispers before coming to a decision. They had worked with some of the Frenchmen who had just left and knew their skills to be above par. For them to abandon any notion about the job meant that they weren't confident in their ability to beat whoever they were going up against. As one the group of three got up and walked out the door, leaving only two Italians in the meeting room. These two were the lone wolves from their group. They hadn't worked with the Frenchmen and sure as hell didn't respect any of their judgement calls.

The ringleader's scowl grew. " _I take it that means the rest of you are staying?"_ There were general mutterings of consent along with a few nods. One of the Spaniards spoke up. " _We are not so spineless that we would go running at the mention of a child."_ This was met with more than a few chuckles and voiced agreements.

" _Good. I will use these to contact you with the details about the time and specific place that we will be hitting the Delacours. Prepare yourselves. We will be hitting them after the match has been completed. That is all. You are all free to go."_ With the dismissal given, the men started to file out of the room.

Meanwhile the man just stared up at the picture of Bastien with hate. He began thinking about how to pull this off. ' _The exodus of the French group was unexpected but not a complete disaster. We still have 13 men. How dangerous can one kid be?"_ He took one last look at the picture of Bastien. ' _Hold on Bernard. Your vengeance is coming soon.'_ With his thoughts done he vanished the board with the pictures on it and walked towards the door and opened it. He flicked his wand towards the lights to extinguish them and gently closed the door. What had recently just been a meeting room for a group of mercenaries was forgotten. " _I will get Bastien if it's the last thing I do'_ he promised to himself.


	4. A Family's Interaction

**Disclaimer: obviously I only own the idea of my story and not that of the original author of this series.**

 **AN: If anyone was curious whether or not this story was based on anything, this is the story I drew the idea from. It's a good read but not finished and hasn't been updated for 4 ½ years.** **s/7402590/2/Deprived** **. Cookies to The OrangeShadow for recognizing it**

' _French thoughts'_

" _French speech"_

'English thoughts'

"English speech"

This method is reversed in flashbacks

Chapter 4: A Family's Interactions

When Triton's eyes cracked open, he blearily looked around the dark room. He got off the bed and started maneuvering around the room. He put on his cloak and boots before silently creeping to the door and opening it. He slowly opened the door, checking it for creeks. He started moving like a ghost through the halls and ended his trip at the back door. He grabbed the handle of the door and gave it a 180 degree turn clockwise before taking a step out of the door.

Triton breathed in the brisk morning air. The sun was just starting rise over the horizon in the distance. He made his way off of the porch and onto the grass in the backyard. The squeaking sound of rubber on wet grass made its way to his ears. He made it to the ward line and stopped before he crossed the threshold. He cast a drying charm on a small patch of grass before sitting in the spelled area. Getting into a meditative pose, he slowly started to let his magic expand over the surrounding area. His intention was to find any foreign magic that wasn't supposed to be there. All he could sense was the energy that the wards were outputting. He double checked his findings before concluding that everything was how it should be.

As he got out of his position, he systematically stretched each of his limbs. Once he felt like his muscles had been sufficiently loosened, he made his way to the side of the wards 90 degrees to his right before repeating the process. He came to the same conclusion as previously. It seemed like the house wasn't being actively targeted then. Triton walked the distance to the place that he had entered the wards last night. He returned to his trance. He sent his sensors over the area and felt a magical signature walking around. He studied it before disregarding it. It was coming from the house. That meant it was one of the family and by the slightly cold feel it had to it, he could confirm it was Bastien.

Bastien had a different magical signature than the rest of his family. This was because he was the only non veela in the household. Veela had a defining warmth that emanated from their signature. It was different than their allure. Their allure was something that was unconsciously released until they learned to control it, and even then strong emotions could cause it to leak out. But the mark on their magic was different. It came from the part of their magic that let them have the avian transformations. More specifically, the part that let them throw fireballs. That small control and protection of fire left a distinguishable mark upon their magic that made them easy to identify.

Bastiens was more like the average signature felt from a wizard. It also had a separate feeling than the wizards of the general populace. For starters, it was larger and had a slight feeling of rigidness within it. This was to be expected, he was the head auror after all. He could hear the slight click as the front door opened. Knowing it was just Bastien he just continued on with his self set task.

Triton could feel nothing in this part of the yard and went to the last quadrant. As he made his way to the last part of the property, he could feel a set of eyes on him. It didn't bother him. Bastien was just checking to see what he was doing, he had no problem with that. 'I would definitely go check if I had a guest that was using magic on my property.' Triton thought.

He reached his last destination and mimicked the process that he had used thrice this morning. He reached out his senses, letting it wash over the area. Just as he was about to call the job done he felt a small blip on his senses. Too small to be a person and too creative for it to be a small animal. He started to reel back in his senses except for the small sliver that was feeling where the magic was coming from. He got up and slowly walked towards the feeling. He got a slight tingling sensation through his body as he crossed the ward line. With his wand now in hand he started casting detection spells to see if there were any spells protecting the object. When he found none he started to approach the area where the feeling was coming from.

As he came upon the area where he could feel the magical object, he started to look for it. Not finding it with his eyes he started to isolate the feeling of its magic from the surroundings. Now that he was closer he could get a better feel for the magic. The magic sensations it gave off felt like something that he had dealt with previously but for the life of him he couldn't place it. He finally zeroed in on the item. He turned slightly to the right before taking a few steps. He looked down at his feet and could see the slight glint of a lense.

He reached down and picked up the object before studying it. It had been charmed to blend in with its surroundings and had a minor notice-me-not charm on it. He knew what it was though. He had seen some of the members of the Misfits use them for recon if they needed it before they started a job. It acted like a muggle recording device. The runes recorded and stored the information that could then be reviewed at a later date inside of a pensieve. It was relatively useless if it was found because it had to be retrieved if one wished to view the memories. That's why they were generally made to be hidden.

'That's quite sneaky of whoever put this here. Putting the lowest amount of magic into the object and tying a small notice-me-not into it would make most people overlook it. Good thing I do regular sweeps at my apartment or I would have missed this completely.' These were the thoughts running through Triton's head as he looked down at the magical variant of a video recorder.

Triton trudged his way back to the house and was met by Bastien.

" _Find anything on your sweeps, Triton?"_ Bastien asked of the bodyguard.

" _Actually I did."_ he held out the object for the Delacour male to take. " _This was hidden slightly past the ward line. I assume you know what it does."_ at the confirming nod he continued his answer. " _I don't know whether whoever put this here wanted to get information on your dealings so they could play better politics or to try and figure out when you were vulnerable, but either way it shows that someone has been keeping tabs on you."_

Bastien had a pensive look on his face " _This is deeply troubling. Is it possible to see how long it has been there?"_

Triton had a thoughtful look on his face. " _Not from just looking at it, but we could look at the recordings to see when it started watching your house. Do you have a pensieve?"_ he informed and then questioned the older man.

Bastien gave a small shake of the head to signal no. " _I don't have one on hand but I could request one from the department. It usually takes a day or two for the request to go through. As long as it is approved then we should be able to view the recordings before we leave for the World Cup."_

" _Then I guess all we can do is wait."_ Triton was slightly disappointed. It would make it slightly easier to defend the family if he knew how long the device had been in operation. If it was two to three days then that would lean towards someone looking for information about either the world cup meetings that Bastien had been having with some of security personnel from the ministry or it would lean to someone suspecting Bastien in the death of Bernard. If it had been longer it would probably be someone who was looking for political information on the head of the auror department. Devices like this weren't in comission for very long. They were generally used for one, maybe two weeks max before they recordings were taken out and stored before the device was either put back where it had previously been watching from or it would sit on a shelf waiting for its next use.

A voice broke through the haze of thoughts that had been going through his head. " _Would you like any breakfast? Appoline was making some as I came out to check what you were doing. She should be done with it by now if she's just making a simple breakfast."_

Looking back at the sun, Triton realised he had been out here for about an hour. The sun had stopped being connected to the horizon but was still low in the sky. It was probably around 7:30.

'Tempus.' he thought. Glowing numbers popped up displaying the time. It read 7:48. 'Ah. A little off of my estimate.'. He then looked back at the veteran auror. " _Food sounds delicious right now. Thanks for the offer."_

Bastien just gave a small, genial smile. " _It's the least we could do. After all, you are the one who is going to be keeping my family safe. It wouldn't do for you to be at anything less than your peak."_

Triton had approximately three months worth of rations within his trunk but felt no need to point that out to his employer. It was better to just accept the gesture and the free meal. It would make them feel more at ease around him if he joined in their daily activities rather than just being a shadow that watched from out of sight.

Both males turned and started heading into the house and made their way to the kitchen. They were greeted to the sight of a pile of bacon next to a pile of chocolate pancakes. Appoline was already at the table eating while reading the French's paper, _L'intuition de l'oracle_. She looked up from the paper with a smile towards her husband. When her eyes trailed over to Triton they lost a lot of their warmth and took on a nervous hue, but the smile stayed upon her face even if it seemed forced.

" _Come now. Have some breakfast."_ she then locked eyes with Triton " _I hope you like it. I know it isn't a large breakfast but we usually don't have such large meals in the morning."_ Appoline stated to Triton.

Triton waved off her concerns. " _It's no problem. I wasn't expecting any meal so any amount of food is a bonus in my mind."_ he then grabbed a plate from next to the food and started to fill his plate. When he had grabbed 4 pancakes and a few strips of bacon, he headed to the table and pulled out a chair before sitting.

" _So , Triton, what had you up so early?"_ the matriarch asked of the guest within their home.

" _I was just doing a perimeter sweep and checked to see if there was anything there that wasn't supposed to be."_ he informed Appoline.

" _And was there anything out of place?"_

Bastien then pulled out the device he had put in his pocket. " _He found this. It's a recording device. I'm going to put in a request later today so that we can view when the recordings started."_

Appoline had a slightly worried look on her face. " _Do you think it's anything serious? Should we be worried?"_

Bastien just gave her a small smile that seemed to ease some of her worries. " _I bet it's just someone trying to get blackmail material on the head auror. Nothing dangerous."_ he told his wife. With his assurances given, the room lapsed back into silence with each occupant focusing on their own meal.

When Triton was halfway through his third pancake, a creaking could be heard from the stairs. With her hair slightly tousled, Fleur walked into the room. Upon entering she looked up and saw her parents. When her eyes saw Triton she gave a heated glare before giving a small harumph and heading to the food.

Triton turned to Bastien with a confused look on his face. " _Is there something I did or said that offended your daughter?"_ he asked the older male.

Bastien had a small smirk on his face at the fact that Triton didn't understand the feelings going through his daughter. " _Her pride is just a little bruised. She's worked most of her school years to become the best dueler at Beauxbatons. To be beaten so easily must have hurt her ego a little. I'm sure she'll come around."_ He then gave a small chuckle. " _Well, eventually."_ He then wanted to get a little bit more insight into Triton's life.

" _How would you feel if someone outside of your normal area of operations came in and gave you a beating?"_ He meant for it to be a rhetorical question but Triton answered it anyway.

" _That hasn't happened to me yet. But if it did I would try to have that person killed. If that avenue doesn't work and he truly is leagues ahead of me in skill then I would try to avoid that person at every opportunity."_ All eyes in the room had looked at him when he gave his answer and there was a small clink of a fork dropping in the case of Fleur.

Bastien gave a small sigh. He should have known better than to ask a mercenary about fighting when his family was present. They tended to have a lack of regard for the lives of people who pissed them off. His family was generally kept away from the darker aspects of his job. His family would get the usual bodyguards for trips, but they had never had to deal with any situation of high stress. That was generally dealt with outside of their notice if there was a problem.

In Fleur's case she was beginning to understand just how dangerous the person in front of her was. She had thought that he was someone trying to be a big man in the world and was overreaching and overstating his skills. If anything he had been holding back during the duel. That thought was the one that infuriated her the most. She had trained for years trying to become the best duelist at school and now here was a boy three years her junior that wiped the floor with her. What did he do that made him so good?

Appoline knew what his line of work was and what it entailed, but to have it displayed so blatantly was a little shocking. She got snippets of information from Bastien about the reports that had come from jobs that Triton had been a part of. They were generally bloody messes. She knew the skill that this young man held and wasn't going to test him. Her daughter, on the other hand, looked like she wanted to reach across the table and smack Triton.

Bastien cleared his throat to try and get Triton's attention. He waited till the younger male acknowledged that he was listening. " _Maybe we could keep the details about your job away from the children."_ he told Triton.

Triton just gave a shrug. " _You asked a question. I was just answering it. And I always find that knowing the truth is better than being kept in the dark."_ he replied

" _They haven't been exposed to the same lifestyle that you have been. They still live in the world where people aren't all potential enemies."_

" _Fine. I'll keep my business away from your daughters unless it is pertinent to the immediate situation."_

When Triton gave his acceptance of his request, Bastien went back to the last of his meal. As he took his first bite he heard a series of thumps before a miniature rocket came flying through the house.

" _You made pancakes! You know these are my favourite. Thanks mom."_ This all came out in one breath from the youngest of the Delacour family. The tense atmosphere had been broken by the hyperactive eight year old. Ignorant of the previous discussion, Gabrielle walked towards the food humming a soft tune. She grabbed three pancakes and opened the fridge before grabbing a bottle. She sat down at the table and started to make a river of chocolate syrup on her pancakes.

" _Honey maybe you should tone it down with the syrup."_ Appoline commented to her daughter.

" _Nuh uh. Too good."_ she said before she proceeded to stuff her mouth. She looked up to see everyone staring at her. Her mother had a pointed look at her while her father was trying to hid a small grin. Fleur was openly laughing. When she looked at the last person she saw that he didn't have any look on his face, neither approval nor disapproval. She went back to eating her breakfast and her family slowly sunk into their own thoughts. When she finished eating she looked over at Triton before waving to get his attention.

" _Hey mister."_ Triton looked at the small girl before giving a small tilt of his head in her direction to show that he was listening. Gabrielle took that as the queue to continue. " _Thanks for beating Fleur in the duel yesterday. She's been bragging about being Beauxbatons' duelling champion since she got back. Maybe she'll stop now that you beat her. Gotta go, bye."_ the last part was said as Fleur got out of her seat and was heading around the table to get to her little sister.

Gabrielle jumped off of her seat like it was heated metal and sprinted out of the room.

" _Get back here you little brat."_ Fleur yelled through the house as she laid chase to her sibling.

When Fleur had left he turned towards the parents. " _Are they always like this?"_ he asked them.

" _Not always. Only when something happens that Gabrielle can annoy Fleur about. This would be one of those times."_ Appoline answered.

Triton slowly pushed his chair away from the table and got up. " _I will be up in my room if anyone needs me. Thank you for making breakfast Madame Delacour."_ With that said he headed up towards the room he had been provided.

When he reached his room he could still hear the hurried steps of the elder daughter chasing the younger. The sounds continued for the next 10 minutes before they stopped. That meant one of two conclusions. One, Fleur gave up and Gabrielle avoided punishment or two, Gabrielle was caught. His answer came a few seconds later when there was a loud yell throughout the house.

" _No please Fleur stop. I'm sorry. I won't say it again."_ The sentence was broken up between loud peals of laughters that floated around the house.

He stopped listening to the situation downstairs and went to lie down on his bed. He was pondering who could have placed the device in the tree line. It hadn't been there for long judging by the lack of scraped that the device held. The real question was whether it had been placed before or after the death of Bernard. That would give him some idea as to the motive of the person who placed it. Sadly, he didn't know enough of the political happenings to know who Bernard was connected to and who his allies were. He would just have to wait for the pensieve to figure out the motive and be ready for the person to make his first move so that Triton could figure out his identity.

He came out of his thoughts and sat up into a cross legged position and closing his eyes. He started to center himself and reached in wards to feel his magic. He then conjured a small ball of water and froze it before repeating the action nine more times. With the first ball he started having it circle around his waist in a large orbiting motion. The next ball started to make figure eights about two feet away from him. The third went to his wrist and was doing quick circles. The fourth went to his other hand, which he had his fingers extended, and had the ball weave back and forth through the fingers. The fifth one went to one of his shoulders and would go over his head before landing on the other shoulder. The ball would then come back and the process would repeat.

This exercise was essentially when the teacher in a classroom asks you to draw a circle with one hand and a square with the other. He had to split his focus and make his magic do five different commands. It was easy to lift one hundred different balls if they were all doing the same thing. For instance if you were banishing 20 objects at the same time in the same direction it would be easier than trying to banish 10 in specified directions.

Now was the tricky part. The remaining five went to pair with the balls that were already in motion and started to do the opposite of what they were doing. This was the hard part because his magic was already doing that certain action one way, and now it was trying to do the action completely the same except for going in a different direction. This made it easier for the commands to become the same as the one opposite of it and the balls would start doing the same thing. When he opened his eyes he could see five sets of actions being done in forward and reverse. He allowed himself a small smile. He had been practicing this skill on and off for the past 6 months. He could only split his attention into four different things in a combat situation. He was trying to get the skill to the point where he could do ten tasks at once without having to pause and carefully craft his magic to follow the commands.

His concentration was interrupted when the door suddenly swung open. All the balls stopped moving and were floating stationary in the air.

" _Mom said lunch is ready."_ the last two syllables came out slower as she fully came through the door and saw the floating balls of ice. The excitement on the little girl's face was unmistakeable. Triton looked at the clock. The time had flown by when he was practicing his magic.

" _Can you teach me how to do that."_ she asked of him. " _Mama and Papa never let me use any magic. They say that I have to wait until I go to school before I'm allowed to learn."_ she told him.

He was about to deny the request before he thought of something to make the day go a little quieter. " _I'll teach you the levitation charm if you can keep from antagonizing your sister for the rest of the day."_ he offered the young girl.

She gave several frantic nods of the head and had a large grin on her face. She was just about to turn around before Triton mentioned one last condition. " _And you can't tell your parents."_ She looked at him with a small pout and he slightly caved. " _At least until after you finish learning the charm."_ Her grin was back in full force.

" _Okay."_ she chirped before heading back down the stairs.

Triton got off the bed before stretching out with a groan. He had been sitting there for hours and it hadn't felt over thirty minutes. He had noticed that whenever he sank into his magic his perception of time got skewed. Maybe it was because magic was timeless or maybe it was just him losing some connection to his physical senses. Either way he could sit like that for hours if he wasn't disturbed. He headed down the flight of stairs before returning to the kitchen he felt like he had just left. He saw a meal that he knew he had seen before when Jim was experimenting with his cooking to add to the menu but he couldn't remember the name of the dish. Seeing the ravenous look in Fleur's eye he could guess that this was the dish that was one of her favourites. It did look rather good in his opinion, though his opinion might be slightly skewed from normal opinions. This was because he usually ate rations and those just looked like bars of wood. The smell coming from it only added to the enticement.

" _Can I ask what we are having for lunch?"_ Triton asked as he looked towards Appoline.

" _Bouillabaisse. It's been Fleur's favourite since she was a little girl."_ she informed him.

" _Can we eat now Mama?"_ Fleur asked of her mother. Appoline had an amused look on her face.

" _Yes Fleur. Now that he's here you can finally eat."_ she told her daughter with a small laugh. With permission given, Fleur dug into her meal. She gave a small moan of delight as the food went into her mouth. Her mother's cooking had always been exceptional.

Triton just grabbed a bowl and put a small amount of bouillabaisse into it. He also grabbed a few slices of bread and placed them beside the bowl. When he took his first bite he could feel the eyes of the family's matriarch on him. When he looked at her she had a slight expectant look in her eye. When he finally realised what she wanted he made a comment.

" _It's very good. Your cooking is marvelous."_ She looked happy with his feedback.

'She must not cook for many people outside of the family if she's that nervous about how much I liked the food.' Triton thought.

The meal dragged on in silence with the only sounds being the clink of silverware. After twenty minutes Bastien excused himself, commenting that he had some work to do. This started the finishing of the meal as each one still at the table had been done or close to it. When he had washed all of his dished he retreated back to his room. He got back into his cross legged position and prepared for another long session of sitting. Only this time the training would be mental instead of magical. With a deep breath he turned his thoughts inward and landed in his mindscape.

When he opened his eyes he was no longer inside his own mindscape. He looked around. He was on a beautiful beach that had the sun shining and a manor was behind him. More specifically, it was Potter manor. It sat upon a small hill overlooking the beach. He took a quick look back before walking towards the shoreline. He thought about some of the ignorance that happened in the manor that loomed over him. It was why he chose to put his painful memories in there. It was a trap laid for people who he wanted to let into his mind. People would think that the manor held his most precious memories. He placed some minor traps to at least make it believable that he had put his memories into this pace. The only memories that the manor held were moments of pain in his life, and those memories would force themselves onto the intruder until he left. It was a place made for deception in case anyone ever did make it in. He didn't consider the manor his true home. He had no physical place that he was strongly attached to, so his home had become anywhere he could best control his powers. The best place he could do that was the ocean. It gave him such an unlimited amount of power and ability to utilise his element. It was where he was his most comfortable and also his most dangerous.

He reached the water and started to wade into it. He fully submerged himself before having the water carry him faster than any Olympic swimmer could ever hope to go. He passed various aquatic predators roaming around the ocean. They all let their master pass by harmlessly, but were less than friendly to any foreign presence that they would feel. All the while he hadn't taken a breath. It was his second defence of the water. In the mind you didn't need to breath but taking a breath is a subconscious action that most people would do after a while. If someone was to take a breath underwater the magic would give the feeling of suffocation that would disrupt the concentration of the intruder until they wouldn't be able to continue forward. After about two minutes of travel, going farther and deeper into the body of water, he came upon lights in the distance. As he approached, buildings started to become clear to his eyes. The cluster of buildings soon became a small city that was surrounded by a barrier. A small entrance in the shape of an arc could be seen at the base of the dome. The entrance was overshadowed by a man holding a trident. It was the man that he had chosen his alias' name after. He tried to create the image from combing through various texts and mythology books that held him within their pages.

The statue was enormous and almost reached the ceiling of the dome. It sat slightly to the right of the entrance to the city. The upper half of the body was of a chiseled man with coral acting as armor around his torso. One of his arms was cocked back with a trident in its hand. The other arm was pointed straight out as if aiming the trident at the entrance. It looked like he would throw the trident at anybody who made it through the ocean. The lower half was a large water serpent. It went to the floor and continued to wrap around the length of the city. It left a small gap that reached to the other side of the entrance to allow its creator to get through.

Triton finally reached the entrance to the city. It was a small charm that was a larger version of the bubblehead charm. It surrounded filled the entranceway and was where the inability to breath ended. He swam up to the entrance and put his feet on the ground, he walked through the arch. He felt his clothes dry off. He took his first steps back into the city. He was here at least three times a week to make sure that his memories were all in order. He would have liked to do it every night so that he could file his day's memories into the right place but sometimes he was on a job that wouldn't allow him to completely disregard his surroundings.

Each building represented a different aspect of memories. The one that had two crossed tridents over its door held his combat memories. It contained every memory he had from any confrontation he had been in. It was for the purpose of review so that he could catch his mistakes and to also learn about an enemy who had a similar style or an enemy that he might meet again in the future. The first memory it held was the memory of when he had been taken to France as a captive. He turned away from it and continued deeper into the city.

The next building he gazed at was his average activity building. Everything from brushing his teeth to what he had eaten for breakfast to how he learned to tie his shoes. He filed the time he had spent at the Delacours so far in this category.

The next building that was caught in his sight was the one he had built to hold his memories of conversations with clients. All the information he could gather on the people who hired him. It was to remember mission details as much as to get clues of the person's identity if he or she decided that they wanted to double cross him. On and on his checks went for each building while he placed some of the past few days memories into their correct buildings.

He finally made it to the heart of the city. Instead of a building being held in the middle there was a large empty space except for one thing that had chain covering it head to toe. No building was within a hundred meter radius of the object. About fifty meters away from the object were large stakes that had been planted into the ground that held the chains.

This was what Triton came to check up on the most. He had found it when he had been training his occlumency. It had reacted bad when he had poked it with his magic. It had lashed out and a battle of wills had ensued. Triton's will to never be as helpless had on the day he was kidnapped had made him push back with all his might. He had been able to subdue the mental infection, but never completely eradicate it. So he had built his city around it to keep it contained as well as so nobody that potentially made it in could find it. It was chained from every which way. Sometimes it would struggle and the chains would weaken. That was why Triton came down here to check the chains.

The parasite gave a strong thrash as he could feel the magic of its host. It had been trapped for nearly two years. It was getting agitated and was prone to thrashing around more and more recently. He had been looking for any reference to what it might be in his books, but so far he had no such luck. That also meant he had no idea how to remove it. For now it would have to stay here. When he finished his checks on the chains he started his second round of checks just to make sure he didn't miss anything. He found everything in working order. With his self set tasks done he focused on leaving and the world around him started to turn black.

He opened his eyes to be greeted with the last of the day's light coming through the window. It was ironic. Many of the battles of the mind were extremely brief and lasted less than a minute but manipulating your mindscape took a while. It was something Triton could never figure out the cause for. Instead of pondering on that already beaten path he prepared to get up. Before he could even uncross his legs his door was thrown open. However instead of a chipper little girl coming in there was only a quick " _dinner's ready"_ thrown through before the door was closed again. It seemed like the eldest daughter was still mad at him.

He made his way to the place that he felt he had spent most of the day. It felt like this room of the house was the only one he really knew. The whole family was waiting patiently for his arrival. He took a seat and the turned towards Appoline.

" _What is on the menu tonight?"_ he asked as he saw the fish that was sitting on the table.

" _We are having_ _Sole Meunière. It's a fish fillet with various toppings."_ she told him.

" _Another one of the girl's favourites?"_ he asked.

" _Actually that would be mine."_ commented Bastien from off to the left. " _It was one of the first dishes that Appoline made me when we started dating and it was simply divine. I haven't had a different favourite since."_

Appoline had a warm smile that made her face glow. " _Alright you can eat up now."_ she told them a little bashfully.

Dinner was a quick affair. Everyone had finished within fifteen minutes of it starting as they were all focused upon finishing their food. The food was the best that Triton remembered having in the past few years. 'I could get used to this." he thought. He knew that it wouldn't last but it tasted so good. He didn't care to learn how to cook and the ration bars had all of the nutrients he needed. With that thought done the last person cleared their plate.

" _I think it's time for me to go to bed. I'm going to be up bright and early to do sweeps tomorrow."_ he told Bastien. Bastien just gave him a nod of approval. The then went to the room that he had spent most of his time in before laying on the bed. His last thought before drifting off to sleep was of discovering the identity of the person who put the recorder in the ground.


	5. the world cup

**Disclaimer: obviously I only own the idea of my story and not that of the original author of this series.**

' _French thoughts'_

" _French speech"_

'English thoughts'

"English speech"

This method is reversed in flashbacks

Not even gonna try putting french accents into the english portions

Sorry I haven't been here. I picked up an extra class that took up the time I had slotted for writing this story and my English teacher had us writing a fair amount. Kind of got sick of it. But I will try to pick up the pace of uploads once the summer starts and I don't have school.

Chapter 5: the world cup

Triton got up and went through the morning sweeps he had done the previous day and found nothing out of place. It seemed like whoever placed the recording device in the ground hadn't realized it had been discovered yet. Breakfast came and past quickly and Triton went back to his home. It was around halfway through his training that there was a soft knock on the door.

" _Can I come in?"_ the soft voice of Gabrielle came through the door.

" _Sure, come on in."_ he replied. The door slowly opened to show the diminutive girl walking forward while fighting down a grin. " _What can I do for you Gabrielle."_ he asked her.

She leaped up onto the bed before settling up right beside him and looked up at him with excited eyes. " _You said that you would teach me magic if I was able to not antagonize my sister throughout yesterday. It was hard but I did it. No promises for today though."_

Triton had to fight down a smile. She seemed eager to learn magic, just like he had been at that age. 'Let's see if she can learn from my teachings.'

" _That I did Gabrielle. If you are going to learn from me then you will need to answer a few of my questions so that I know where you are. The first question that I have is what is magic?"_ he asked of her.

She tilted her head up to look at him and scrunched up her eyes, trying to remember whatever she had previously been taught. After a few moments she started to speak. " _Magic is an energy that all witches and wizards hold inside of themselves. They use wands to get that energy to perform spells. If we use too much magic at one time then people can go into shorter comas caused by magical exhaustion."_ She said all of this with her eyes closed, still lost in her memories of someone giving her the description of magic.

" _That's good but not necessarily what I wanted. You just gave me the technical definition of what I asked for."_ he saw a confused look take over her face at his answer, more specifically the second sentence. " _Sorry, you gave me the answer that would be in a textbook. I was looking for an answer about what you thought magic was."_

She gained a look of understanding and then her face scrunched up again as she tried to find the words that she thought defined the power she held. " _It makes me feel like nothing is impossible. That I can achieve all of my goals when I start learning it."_ Triton gave a small chuckle at the childish answer. At least it wasn't too far off of what he wanted her to learn. Gabrielle started to pout. " _Well let's hear your description of magic."_ she said to him.

He had been waiting for that. It gave him an opportunity to give her his definition without trying to immediately give her an answer that was controversial to what she had already learned. He looked into her eyes. " _My definition of magic is rather simple. It is a manifestation of my will given physical form so long as I have the necessary energy to power my intent."_

He was met with a deadpan stare. " _French please."_ she told him. He just gave a small chuckle. He hadn't had a bond with anybody in a while. He now remembered why it was nice to share things with other people, even if those things were not important details of your life. It also reminded him of the naivety of childhood. Some people might argue it but ignorance can be bliss.

" _My definition meant that as long as I have magic I can do anything I can think of. Although some things are easier done than others."_ she gave a couple small quick nods to show that she understood and wanted him to continue.

" _Next question. Why do wizards and witches need wands?"_ he asked his next question. Gabrielle looked at him confused.

" _To do magic?"_ she asked in a questioning tone, not really sure what he was trying to ask. She thought it was to easy to answer. ' _Why would he ask such an easy question?'._

" _If that were true then how would your mother and sister be able to throw fireballs without their wands?"_ he tried to get her to question her answer.

" _Because we are veela. We can do those things without a wand but normal people can't."_ she stated.

" _Then let's try another example. How do you do accidental magic if you need a wand for magic?"_ That brought her up short. She opened her mouth to answer then closed it again. She looked towards him with an expectant look.

" _Then why do wizards need wands?"_ she asked in a confused tone.

" _The truth is that they don't."_ He saw that she was about to argue. " _I'm not saying that it doesn't make it easier but they don't truly need it. Not at the start anyway. Wizards use wands because it makes it easier for them to direct their magic. Without a wand they have to direct their magic to a specific place in their body before expelling it outwards. A wand acts as a crutch in this situation. Think of a wand as a magnet. When you use magic it is drawn towards the wand. The wand gives the magic a specific place to gather before getting sent out. This is why many wizards can't do magic without a wand anymore. The wand made it so much easier to do magic that many wizards stopped learning how to do magic by themselves and started depending on the wand. However the wand was a curse as much as a blessing. It gave people an instant power up that came from being able to perform spells easier. The downside of this is that they can only learn so much with a crutch. They fail to learn how to manipulate magic by themselves and are only able to do magic without a wand in high emotional situations. That is why wizards don't truly need a wand. They would prefer to just hold a crutch for their whole lives rather than learn how to walk by themselves._

Gabrielle looked up awed at his statement. He seemed really smart in her eyes. ' _Is this how he was able to beat Fleur. But he used a wand.'_ she thought.

" _But you used a wand against Fleur. Does that mean you can't do magic without it?"_ she questioned him.

Triton just gave her a small smile and shook his head. " _I usually use my wand in public because it is abnormal to use magic without a wand and I don't like to stick out. Plus using a wand does make things a little easier."_ he told her.

" _So can we learn magic now?"_ she asked excitedly.

" _Sure. now let's get to the first part of learning magic, the ability to move it throughout your body to the point of where you are going to use it. This task should be made easier because you are a veela. The avian side of your magic is more primal and gives you an instinctive ability to use magic that has been used by veela for centuries. It shouldn't be too hard to get a feel for the magic so you can use it manually instead of instinctively."_

His eyes lost focus as he started to think of ways that he could get her to learn about how to feel her magic. When he came up with an idea, he looked down to see expectant eyes staring right back.

" _Why don't you try any piece of magic that you can manage and then I will try to help you mold it into the spell that we want."_ he told her. She had a small blush and mumbled something that he couldn't make out.

" _What did you say?"_ he asked her. She mumbled incoherently once more.

" _Speak up a little this time."_ he told her.

" _I said I haven't been able to do any magic when I try to. I have only done accidental magic."_ she nearly shouted at him while she turned her head to the side to try and hide her embarrassment.

" _Okay we can work with that. When do you usually use accidental magic?"_ he asked her.

" _When I get mad at somebody. Usually when Fleur is pestering me about one thing or another."_ she replied to him.

" _Alright then I want you to think about one of the times when Fleur got you the most angry."_ he instructed her.

Gabrielle's closed her eyes as she tried to think of the single most frustrating moment that Fleur had caused. It was when her sister had first started at Beauxbatons and was teasing her about not being able to go for years. Triton watched as Gabrielle's face contorted into an angry scowl and smiled a bit when he started to see some of the objects in the room float.

When Gabrielle opened her eyes she glared at Triton. " _Why would you want me to remember something like that?"_ she asked him sharply.

" _Look around."_ he told her.

When she looked up she saw the alarm clock and the pillows were floating about two feet above the bed. In her shock to see herself doing magic the connection was cut and the pillows flopped harmlessly on the bed. The alarm clock, however, was not so lucky and shattered when it landed back on the desk. Gabrielle was about to apologize before Triton cut her off.

" _It's okay."_ He waved his hand towards the clock and the shattered pieces were reunited. " _No harm done."_

She gave a nervous nod before her face broke out into a full on grin when she remembered one important fact. " _I did magic!"_ she exclaimed, almost in a squealing tone.

" _Yes you did. Now can you tell me what that felt like?"_ he asked.

" _It felt like fire was going through my body. Like I was stronger."_

" _Good then I want you to focus on that feeling. See if you can do it again."_

Gabrielle closed her eyes again. She tried to focus on the memory that had fueled her recent success at magic but kept getting her thought process broken by the memory of her doing magic and a grin kept creeping onto her face.

" _I can't do it. I'm too happy."_ she told Triton. Triton just looked at her with a an easy going expression on his face.

" _You don't need to be angry to use magic. Most people who do that generally get into the more vile magics. I didn't want you to become dependant upon your anger, I just wanted you to get the feeling of the magic going through your body. Magic is all about intent and emotions give a strong motivator towards the goal you are aiming for. So try to put that happiness towards the want to use your magic."_

Gabrielle went to think about the time a few minutes prior that she had levitated the things in the room. The feeling of power that went through her body and she looked at the pillows sitting on the bed. Putting all of the concentration an eight year old could put into an activity, she willed the pillows off of the bed. Slowly, but surely, they started to rise off of the bed. This time she had her eyes open and was able to see all of the pillows floating around her. They stayed hovering in the air before she started to get a little light headed as they started to fall. She tried to hold them but the feeling in her head got worse.

" _That's good enough for now Gabrielle. You should probably stop."_ he told her gently.

Turning her head towards him as her eyes got larger and her bottom lip started quivering. " _But I want to still practice. Can we keep going please."_ she asked of him. Triton had to look away or else he would have succumbed to give in to her demands.

" _No."_ he told her firmly. " _You are getting tired from all of the magic that you used. It's the first time that you have tried wandless magic. Take it easy. Get a good night's sleep and you can practice tomorrow or whenever you are feeling better. Just don't let your parents see until you have mastered the spell."._ With that being said he sent her off to bed. As she was exiting she turned back around a was looking down and refusing to look up at him. She was twisting her right leg back and forth before gathering up her courage and looking up.

" _Thank you."_ she spoke in a voice quieter than her normal one. " _Nobody in my family wants to teach me magic. They all say I'm too young to learn. Thanks for proving them wrong and helping me learn something."_. She looked up with a nervous look and only saw a soft smile on the mercenary's face.

" _It was no problem Gabrielle. Maybe, one day, you will be good enough at magic to teach me something. Come find me when that happens."_. He said in a kind voice.

Gabrielle gave a quick set of nods as her face was overcome with a smile. " _I will. I'll come find you when I've gotten stronger. Then you will need my help. Good night Triton."_ she said happily before leaving the room.

Triton watched her go with a smile on his face. The warmth that was in his chest and the uplifting feeling that came with the ability to help this girl with her problems only supplied one question to his mind. 'Is this what it feels like to have a sister.'

The rest of the time until the cup went smoothly. Nothing went wrong and Triton was starting to slide himself into the family's routines. It would make blending in easier if they were more comfortable with his presence. Gabrielle was extremely happy with him around. Apolline still held a small air of caution around him and Fleur still held some of the resentment of him beating her, but they were not noticeable unless a person was really looking. The practice that Gabrielle had been putting into the levitation charm had paid off. She was now able to float a couple items in the air and hold it for a couple of minutes. She had been excited to show me the results when she came into Triton's room to show him. She had asked him if she was ready to show her family. Triton made her promise that she wouldn't show her family till after the world cup was over. There was no way he wanted to deal with an annoyed Bastien Delacour before he got his pay.

" _Are we all ready to go?"._ Speak of the devil and he shall appear. Although in this case it's more like think of the devil.

" _I think we are more than ready to go dear."_ Apolline told her husband. She got agreeing nods from both of her daughters though Gabrielle's nod was mixed with a yawn. It was decently early in the morning. A single nod was all they got from their protector.

" _Alright then. Everybody grab a hold."_ he said as he pulled out a small garden hose and put it on the table. When everyone was touching it he started the countdown.

" _In 3...2...1."_. With the countdown finished they were hurled in a glowing blue vortex. Triton looked around at the family and saw that they were starting to let go of the hose and followed their example. As he fell through the vortex he started to make a running motion to slow down the speed of coming out of the portal. He had only read the theory on how to exit a portkey as he usually just apparated to where he needed to go. When they finally landed on the ground his land was less than graceful. He had come out with too much force and stumbled before regaining his balance. His landing was not as bad as Gabrielle's though. She came out with too much speed and was slammed into the ground.

" _Oooowwwwwwwwwww. That hurt."_ she breathed out. Bastien just chuckled.

" _You'll get better with time little angel."_ he told his youngest.

Triton looked around towards the last two members of the family. Apolline was waiting patiently for the rest of the party while Fleur had a small smirk upon her face. One that was filled with a thought that maybe he wasn't that great at magic.

Triton took the time that Gabrielle was using to shake off the landing to think about being back in Britain. It wasn't a place he was against going back to but he hadn't actually gone seeking to come back. It was where his abandonment happened and that wasn't something he wanted to revisit. It was also a place filled with bigots, hypocrites, and sheople. He would rather stay away from that combination of things but yet here he was.

When he got done thinking about these things Triton took the time to look around at the campsite and could see groupings of green and red that scattered the field they would be staying in. As their group started to get together, Bastien gave them directions.

" _Special privilege of being a department head, we don't have to go through the normal checkpoint. Our campsite is the X on this map."._ They then spent the next twenty minutes looking for their campsite. It was hard to follow a map that was made for an orderly setting when there were thousands of people who were running around and many tents that were set up just out of alignment of where they were meant to go. When they finally found their spot they placed down their packs. Bastien reached into his pack and pulled out a shrunken tent. He enlarged it, then went on to wave his wand and get all the parts into place so that the tent would stay put. After he finished he walked over to the flap.

" _Welcome to our one night stop. Make yourselves at home."_ he told everyone. The group grabbed their bags and walked through the flaps to come upon a rather cozy living room with four doors on the walls behind it.

" _Each of those leads to a room and each room has its own bathroom. The one on the left is mine and your mother's. Go make yourselves comfortable, we almost ten hours until the finals tonight. We can head out and look at the surrounding area and what they hold in about an hour. For now go unpack and get ready for some fun."_ he told all of them jovially.

Gabrielle bolted for the room which was second on the left while Fleur and Triton followed at a more sedate pace. Fleur ended up taking the room to the right of Gabrielle, which left Triton with the bedroom at the far end. Triton got to the last room left and put his pack on the floor. He shouldn't need anything that was in there. It was just a change of clothes and a basic first aid kit. The more important things were still in the trunk around his neck.

He decided that he needed to get a layout for the area and went to sit on the bed. He closed his eyes and started to spread out his senses. It was impossible to distinguish any individuals, but it was possible to feel where all of the tents were and he slowly started to map out the area that surrounded the tent he was currently in. When the hour was nearly up, he had gotten a mental map of a surrounding 1.5 kilometers and decided to go out to the living room to wait for the rest of the family.

He entered the family room to the sight of Apolline lounging on the couch and reading a book. She looked up when she heard the sound of the door shutting behind Triton.

" _Ready to go?"._ He gave a small nod. " _Are you expecting any trouble?"_ she followed with another question.

" _Nothing worse than a few drunks later in the night. Should be nothing to worry about."_ he said reassuringly. She gave an appreciative nod before they lapsed into silence. The silence only lasted before a door opened and a hyper ball of energy came flying out of the room it led to.

" _Are we ready to go? I'm really excited to go see everything. Do you think that we'll get to see any of the players. Who are we supposed to be rooting for?"_. This all came out in a ferocity only seen in a child hyped up on sugar.

" _Gabrielle, did you eat some of the cauldron cakes from home?"_ Apolline asked her daughter.

" _Maybe just a couple."_ she told her mother.

" _Well, no dessert tonight."_ she told Gabrielle.

The youngest of the group had a panicked look on her face.

" _Nnnnnnoooooo. I don't want to go without any ice cream. Mother don't make me."_. Her begging was cut off from going any further when Fleur stepped into the room.

" _Will you stop making so much noise. Just enjoy the festivities for once. Be happy that we are here."_. This made Gabrielle look at Fleur. She was about to start arguing before her father cut in from the doorway of his room.

" _Alright are we all ready to go?"._ He got affirmative answers from all of the people in his party. _Then let's go check out the festivities."_ Bastien said to his family. They ducked out of the tent and joined the throngs of people that were joined in the festivities. The first place they visited was the area that the vendors that were selling this year's world cup memorabilia.

" _So which team are we supposed to be rooting for? You didn't answer my question in the tent."_ Gabrielle asked of her mother.

" _Well I'm personally rooting for a good game on both sides but I think your mother and Fleur are rooting for Ireland."_ Bastien said to Gabrielle.

Apolline gave a derisive snort towards the thought of rooting for Bulgaria. " _I heard they were using Veela as their mascots this year. Nothing about that earns my respect. Neither the country for using us like creatures nor the Veela for choosing to seen in our stereotypical light."_ she said as trace amounts of anger started to creep into her voice.

Bastien saw his wife starting to get agitated at the thought of the Bulgarian mascots and decided to take her away from the kids so she wouldn't ruin the morning with her ranting. " _We are going to look around for some of the vendors with foreign food. I expect all of you back at the tent by three. I trust you can keep them safe?"_ he said as he looked towards Triton. He got a slight nod as his answer. " _Then we'll be off. Stay safe kids."_. With that he and his wife disappeared into crowds of people.

Fleur just started walking off in another direction. As Triton tried to follow she gave a look back and bit out with a cold tone " _I can take care of myself. Just make sure Gabrielle is safe."._ Triton had a conflicted look on his face before he looked back and forth between the sisters. " _Fine."._ Triton acquiesced. Fleur went to resume her original pathing and didn't notice the wandless tracker and status charms that she was hit with. Gabrielle looked questioningly at him. " _It's so we can find her later and to make sure she's okay. Now, what do you want to do?"_.

Gabrielle got a thinking face. A look of realization passed on her face. " _Mom said I wouldn't get dessert tonight, so how about going out for ice cream now?"_ she asked him as she put on her poutiest face she could make.

Triton tried to fight it and say no, but he couldn't look at her without breaking. " _Okay, but just one scoop for you."_ he told her. " _Sure."_ she chirped back.

They started going through the walkways that were filled with people. As they were going through the crowds he noticed that Gabrielle had a hard time keeping up with him. He stopped and turned around. " _You want to ride on my shoulders?"_ he asked her. She gave an excitable set of nods. She soon found herself floating until she was resting on Triton's shoulders. They then started their search for an ice cream stand.

" _Over there."_ she said as she pointed to a stand a little ways off. Triton started to make his way in the direction she had been pointing. He eventually found what he was looking for. " _What flavor do u want Gabrielle?"_ he questioned her. " _Chocolate!"_ she said a little louder than necessary. The owner of the stand looked up at the sound of Gabrielle's voice and looked towards Triton for affirmation of the purchase. Triton just gave a small, almost imperceptible, nod. With the approval given the owner started to scoop the ice cream from its container into a cup. When he finished he handed the cup to Triton.

"That will be two sickles." the man stated with a thick British accent. Triton reached into his pockets and felt out for where he kept the money he had at the ready. He grabbed two silver coins from his pocket and handed them to the salesman. "Have a nice day sir and you too little one.". With that exchange finishing they went towards a larger and more open area where a market of sorts had opened up.

They spent the rest of the day in the market wandering around and looking at the wares. They ended up getting two omnioculars and some Ireland merchandise for Gabrielle. It was around 2:30 when Triton started to pull Gabrielle away from the shops. She was trying to look at some of the flying figures of the Ireland team and had a childlike look of longing on her face. " _Can we get this please?"_ she asked him. Triton decided it was time to put his foot down. " _No. We have to get you back to the tent then I'm going to go find Fleur. Come on."_ he told her as he started gently pulling her away from the tent that held her item of interest.

Triton to Gabrielle back to the tent where both of the parents were already there and waiting for them. Bastien looked around for a third person entering his tent. He then looked towards Triton. " _Where's Fleur?"_ he asked.

" _She wanted to go off on her own."_ at Bastien's look he quickly placated him. " _Don't worry. I put monitoring charms on her. I'm about to go get her right now."._ Bastien felt his small amount of anger bleed into annoyance at his daughter. " _Always to headstrong for her own good."_ Bastien muttered under his breath as he watched Triton walk out of the tent.

Triton used the mental map he had made earlier to maneuver his way around the campsites towards where he knew Fleur was. He only had to walk a few minutes to find her as she wasn't moving. When he got to the place she was he could see her and two boys around his own age who had glassy looks in their eyes. They seemed to be arguing about something.

"I'm the better one for you." the one with red hair told her with a bravado only seen from the stupid, the intoxicated, and the arrogant. Triton thought it was always amusing to watch the weak minded.

"No, I'm the one you should be with. I'm the Boy-Who-Lived." the other said. Triton just got an annoyed look on his face as he realized who was in front of him. He continued his walk from where he had stopped to watch the scene unfold. He eventually reached where the three were standing and noticed that Fleur had her face scrunched in annoyance, like she just wanted to hex them but didn't want to cause a scene. They hadn't actually done anything to her so there was no justification for using magic on them.

"Can I help you men with something?" Triton asked both of the boys. Fleur's face spread into relief as she saw him come in to help with the two harassers.

"Ya you can get out of our way so the veela can come with us. I mean, who wouldn't want to come with the Boy-Who-Lived?" Thomas stated. Triton's face became a blank slate.

"I suggest that you walk away before you get hurt. It will only be embarrassing for you." he told his brother, though that fact was unknown to Thomas.

Thomas' face turned red in anger. "You think you could beat me. I've been trained by Dumbledore himself. There is no way some nobody like you could defeat me." he boasted. The redhead behind him was only saying things to boost Thomas' ego. Triton just sighed. He didn't want to have to dealt with this shit.

"Last chance to leave." he told them.

"Or what loser?" Thomas sneered back.

"Or this will get ugly. And like I told you before, it will only embarrass you." Triton said with the same monotone that he had kept throughout the whole conversation.

"That's it." Thomas yelled before reaching for his wand in his sleeve. Before he had even gotten it out he found himself being slammed backwards and into the redhead still standing behind him. When he looked up he saw the guy holding his wand out to where he had previously been standing.

"Uuuugggghhhh" Thomas moaned.

"What the bloody hell is going on here?" a voice thundered as the crowd that had gathered around them slowly made room for one man to make his way through.

"Dad, this guy attacked me out of nowhere cuz he was trying to get the veela that wanted to come with me." Thomas lied. He felt embarrassed. How did this guy get his wand so fast. Thomas was sure that if they both had their wands out he would have beaten the other guy.

"Is that so? Then you are coming with me and we are going to take you into the auror department for assault." James then went to grab Triton before he was stopped by a bone chilling voice that was close to a hiss.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Triton warned him.

"Oh yeah? What authority do you have? I'm an auror of Britain and you just assaulted my son. That means that I'm going to have to take you in for questioning." James said angrily. Thomas has a smug look upon his face as his father laid into the guy who

"For starters I am under the protection of the head of the French auror division as I am protecting his family. Secondly, you should learn who you are talking to before you threaten them. It may turn out…..poorly." Triton informed the auror.

"Ya right. As if a kid like you would be the one to protect such a high ranking family. You're coming with me for assault and now lying to law enforcement." he told Triton like a poker player who was confident he was calling another's bluff.

"I already told you that you should know who you threaten. I already know who I am facing. An arrogant, overconfident, slightly better than mediocre Boy-Who-Lived and his father who rose through the auror ranks with a combination of his magical prowess as well as his son's fame. Would you like me to continue or would you like to do one of two options. Option 1, you let all of this die down and let me go, or option 2, where you try to arrest me and you are left on the ground and I'm protected by the French ministry. You can take your pick." Triton finished his ultimatum with a raised eyebrow to show that he was waiting for an answer.

James whipped out his wand and Triton just sighed. This was just getting on his nerves. Triton's wand slid out of his holster and whipped up to block the crimson red bolt of a _stupefy_ that had just been sent at him. A light blue shield materialised around him as he turned to Fleur.

" _You should probably take a step back."_ he advised her. She did so hesitantly, still watching the British auror who was firing curses at Triton's shield. Triton felt multiple curses bounce off of his shield. He looked back to see the senior auror firing a spell chain into his shield. Nothing from the first chain managed to even buckle the shield and that's when the more serious curses started coming in. _Bombardas and diffindos_ made their way into the chains when James saw that his original spells had no effect.

"At least you can cast silently. Your son wouldn't shut up so I assume that he has no idea how to cast silently. Maybe he isn't as good as he said he is." Triton taunted James. The spells from James started coming at a faster tempo. Triton decided that he had let him have his fun. While keeping his shield up he sent a cutting curse at James' legs and made two pillars of ice erupt from either side of him so he had to jump to avoid the cutting curse and sent a bludgeoning curse at about chest height. James didn't have the time to put up a shield after his most recent spell chain and jumped over the first curse only to be nailed in the stomach by the bludgeoner. As he was knocked down he was quickly hit with an _expelliarmus_ followed by a quick _accio_ to bring the wand into Triton's hand.

"I told you that you would be left on the ground. Let's go Fleur." he told her. He made a sweeping motion with his arm that meant 'after you'. She walked ahead of him with her head held high and as much dignity that she could have after causing that large of a spectacle. When they arrived at the tent they were immediately accosted by the Delacour patriarch.

" _Where were you guys, I was worried sick. You guys were supposed to be back at the tent half an hour ago. Did something happen."_ he sent the questions extremely fast while simultaneously looking over Fleur for any harm to her person.

" _We are fine. I just had to deal with some annoying British men who were affected by Fleur's allure."_ Bastien gave an understanding look. " _Actually, while I'm on that topic, you might want to brace yourself for some questions from the British auror department. The guy who was affected was an auror's son and he tried to duel me."_ Triton told the other male in the tent. Bastien just looked at him with a flat look.

" _Fine, but this means more paperwork for me. The only reason I'm not more mad is because you were doing your job. Next time you pick a fight, do it with someone who isn't law enforcement."_

At this, Triton cracked a small smile. " _No promises."_ he said back.

The rest of the time before the finals were spent in the family room exchanging quidditch stories and other memorable moments and eating a light dinner to hold them over till the end of the match. When the time came to start going to the stadium, the whole group stretched out as they had been sitting for the past few hours. They all joined the throngs of people that were headed in the direction of the stadium. They got to the stadium and handed the tickets to the man standing at the entrance.

"All the way at the top." he told them

They walked to the stairs and looked up to see a number of flights that they would have to climb.

They heard a groan resound from the smallest member of their group. " _Do we really have to climb all these stairs."_ she asked while looking on in despair.

" _Yes we do Gabby, but once we get to the top I promise it will be worth it."_ he told her. It took them a few minutes to get up the stairs as there were tons of people all trying to get to their seats though the higher they got, the less people there were on the stairs. They eventually reached the top level and headed to the only box on this level. It spanned about 50% of the fields length with the center being perpendicular to the mid field. It was playing host to all of the various foreign ministers and other important officials as well as some celebrities. The Delacours found their seats rather quickly and sat down, but Triton remained standing. He would rather be prepared for anything, even if it was highly unlikely in the minister's box. He went over and stood in the shadows of the room and started to observe the occupants that surrounded the Delacour family.

After 15 minutes of nothing happening, Minister Fudge was doing his obligatory meet and greets. As he walked around greeting the foreign heads of states, he was pulling along Thomas and showing him off like a prized pony. Meanwhile Thomas was soaking in the attention he was receiving from all the international visitors. James was trailing behind by a few steps along with a redheaded woman Triton could only assume was Lily.

Fudge came up to the Delacours pulling an arrogant Thomas alongside him. When they both got close to the family, both of their eyes got a little glassy and they had to be hit with subtle pinching charms from James. Fudge gave a little jump before realizing his error and he put on a charming smile. "Good evening, good evening. How are you all doing tonight? I hope the Delacour tent was set up to your liking."

At the word Delacour the smile was wiped off of Thomas' face. He noticed a shadow in the corner of the room and pointed to him.

"That's the guy that attacked us." Thomas exclaimed.

Bastien gave a small cough in mild embarrassment as to get the attention back on him. "Yes, sorry about that. He can be a little jumpy at times but he's the best in the business, that's why I hired him.". His tone was only slightly sincere in the apology. In his mind, any person thought his daughters should be with them just because of their veela attributes deserved a little rustling up.

"Best in the business? He doesn't seem to be much older than Thomas." Fudge played to Thomas' ego.

"I assure you he is, but enough about him. It has been a pleasant meeting Minister. At least Fudge could take a hint of not being wanted as he lead his entourage to the next set of foreigners. They were left to their own thoughts for the next 5 minutes before an amplified thundered around the stadium.

"Hello to each and every one of you. My name is Ludo Bagman and I will be your commentator for tonight. I would like to welcome you all the 422nd Quidditch World Cup." there was a round of deafening cheering as this statement was made. "Now let's introduce the teams. Representing Ireland we have Troy, Mullet, Moran, Connolly, Quigley, Ryan, aaaaaaaaaaaand Lynch." Bagman shouted out into the crowd.

When the Irish players flew through the stadium on there lap there were echoing cheers and boos. As they were doing their lap, golden coins started to fall from the sky. Many people were racing to try and grab all of the galleons they could. Triton only shook his head at the stupidity of both the people in the stands and the people on the Irish team. The people in the stands for going for the gold that would disappear in a few hours and at the Irish team for inciting what would probably be more than a few injuries. The Irish finished their lap and went to hover around their goalposts.

"And now for the members representing Bulgaria. Dimitrov, Ivanova, Levski, Vulchanov, Volkov, Zograf, aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand Krum.". The crowd went into a frenzy as the last name was bellowed out. The overwhelming amount of cheers drowned out the boos that were sent out at that name. While the Bulgarian team was making their lap, the veela down on the pitch were dancing and releasing their allure. Suddenly, many of the men in the top box as well as the stands started to lean forward, entranced as they were.

Apolline and Fleur were giving looks of resentment to the veela down on the field and it wasn't hard to figure out why after Apollines rant earlier in the day.

When the Bulgarians finished their lap and were hovering by their posts, the veelas started to reign in their allure. Many of the men in attendance could be seen shaking their heads.

Ludo used the _sonorous_ charm for his last announcement. "Finally, I would like to welcome the referee Hassan Mostafa.". There was a smattering of applause but nowhere near the amount the teams received. "And now it is my duty and pleasure to say. Let the 422nd World Cup BEGIN.

There were multiple cracks that filled the forest outside of the stadium. When the thirteenth crack died down, the men started to congregate into a circle. The group was dominated by the Spaniards with two of each the Romanians and the Italians and the sole French hire.

" _Here."_ one of the Spaniards said as he handed out little things the size of chocolates morsels _. "These are so we can communicate in the field. They have sticking charms on them so you don't have to worry about them falling out of your ear. Don't be an annoyance on them."_ this last comment was aimed at Pierre. He had only been talking himself up any of the times that they had met to discuss plans and tactics.

" _Remember. Hit them while they are sleeping. Set up wards around the tent and use a mass number of stunners to overwhelm any shields that they put up. No lethal spells into the tent. We are supposed to get the girls alive and our employer needs the father alive so that he can be manipulated. Once we get all of them you are free to go after the bodyguard if he isn't already down."_ he got affirmative nods, grunts, and yesses.

The group started to break off in pairs of two except for Pierre and the two Italians. They all went to the positions they were given that surrounded the general area where the tents were set up and sat down to wait for their time to strike.

The game hadn't been of much interest to Triton. He had never found the point of a game that was usually decided by a single player rather than the whole team. It had been a rather skillful show of flying from the Irish chasers and Krum. They both outplayed their mirror positions in every way possible. Though however much he disliked it, Gabby couldn't stop talking about it.

" _They were going so fast and I could barely see the quaffle getting passed around. The seekers were the best. I know we weren't rooting for Bulgaria but he was so good. Are we gonna get to go to the next world cup?"_ she spouted out rapidly to her father.

He gave a few chuckles at her antics. " _Maybe little dove. We'll see when the time comes."_ he told her. They walked around the area of the food vendors and got some meat skewers before continuing their journey to their tent. The small amount of time before bed was spent eating their dinner and reminiscing about the match. The girls were sent to bed as their portkey was early in the morning and Triton followed their actions by entering his own room. He sat on his bed and started to think about the job. The only annoyance was his meeting with his family. He could see that they hadn't changed much since he had left. He started to sink into his mindscape, while keeping a portion of his senses on the outside world.

It was about thirty minutes into his occlumency work that he felt multiple small bursts of magic and some loud bangs that he assumed were the Irish fans still celebrating. That all changed when he could hear the faint sounds of screaming coming from the area that he had felt the magic being used along with anti-portkey and anti-apparition wards snapping up. He shot of his bed and had his wand in hand. He exited his room and could see that Bastien had the same reaction as him.

" _Wake up the girls and get them to the portkey. Apolline and I are going to go help against whoever is doing this."_ Triton gave a nod before turning towards Fleur's room but changed direction once he saw her door, revealing the person he was looking for.

" _Put some normal clothes on quickly. I'm going to go get your sister."_ he told her. She closed her door with a slam and rummaging could be heard coming from the room. He went to the room where the last occupant was being housed. He opened up the door to see Gabrielle fast asleep. He crossed the room in long strides and gently shook the child awake.

" _Gabrielle, Gabrielle get up we need to go."_ he told her in a rushed voice.

" _Five more minutes."_ she mumbled.

Triton didn't have time for this. He ripped off the sheets which caused Gabrielle to bolt into the upright position. He saw her annoyed face and cut her off before she could start arguing with him.

" _Get out of your pyjamas. We need to go. Your mom and dad are going to help with the problem and I need to get you and your sister to the portkey."_ he told her sternly.

" _What pro-"_ she was about to ask before an exploding curse could be heard. This time was closer than the last.

" _That, now hurry and let's go."_ he said with urgency.

It took her about three minutes to get her clothes on and by the time she came out her parents were gone and Fleur and Triton were waiting by the flaps.

" _Let's go."._ That was all he said before they exited the tent. As they were hurrying towards the area where the portkeys were located, Triton could see that Gabrielle was having trouble keeping up so he used a wandless levitation charm to pick her up and put her on his shoulders. " _Hold on."._ With that done they continued on their way to their destination.

" _Fuck the original plan. We can't get the wife but we can get the girls. I hope the employer won't be too mad about that. They are running towards the forest area where group C and D are stationed. Just wait for them to come to you then stall them long enough for us to surround them."._ Agreements came over the coms.

' _Easy. Like leading lambs to the slaughter.'_

The trio were running towards the edge of the wards and had just gotten to the edge of the forest they would need to get through to get to the portkey area.

An intoxicated voice came out at them from just beyond the tree line. "Hey babe. Want to come to my pla-" was all he got out before a red light hit him in the face and he crumpled on the ground.

'I don't have time for this shit.' Triton thought. They continued their way through the forest and were midway through a clearing before a stunner came flying out of the trees. A shield sprang to life between the spell and his protectees. He quickly set Gabrielle down and started to expand his senses. He could feel the general crowd movement heading towards the edge of the wards and could feel four stationary auras.

"You can come out from your hiding places. Did you all really think that 4 people would be enough to take me?" he asked them.

"It was more than we needed." one of the Spaniards lied.

"Then whoever thought that was an idiot.". As he was talking, he was simultaneously moving Fleur and Gabrielle on the other side of him from where he could feel the attackers' positions. One from the group came out of the treeline and started to speak.

"Professional courtesy from one mercenary to another. Let us have the girls and you can walk away with your life." Fleur started to worry about this situation. They were outnumbered and she didn't think he could take this four on one. She could help but she knew she wasn't at the level of her papa and she didn't think that her bodyguard was either. She was worried that he rould value his own skin over theirs.

"Sorry, I don't leave the contracts I take.". With that Fleur's worry started to ebb away but still remained as she watched the ensuing situation.

"It was worth a shot.". The moment he finished his sentence multiple spells flew from the trees. Each one being a stunner or disarmer or mild cutting curse. Nothing that did any actual damage.

'So they are trying to keep the girls unharmed. Good, that works in my favor.'. He put up his shield and watched as all of the spells were splashing harmlessly off of his shield. He watched the lights speed towards his shield with a confused expression on his face.

'These will never break through the shield. Why would they continue to fire spells if it wouldn't do anything?'. His eyes widened in realization as he felt a spell heading at him from his blind spot he was just about to raise a shield when Fleur put one up to block the incoming spell. Giving her an appreciative nod, he spun in a circle with his arm outstretched and then brought it up. A large cylinder of ice surrounded and rose around them. It was thick enough to block a good amount of spellfire.

" _Gameplan. I'm going to go out there and deal with this. Fleur, I need you to try to keep putting magic into this barrier to keep it standing as long as possible. If it falls it means one of two things. Either I won or I'm dead. I'd prefer to keep it the former so please don't interfere with this fight. You will only get in the way."_

She was looking at him like he was crazy. " _You'll die if you go out there." she exclaimed._

Triton just gave her a small smirk. " _You give me too little credit. Just keep your head down. I go on three. 1...2...3."._ When his countdown finished, a door sized part of the ice melted into water and opened for a brief moment to let its creator out before closing on itself and refreezing.

The second he stepped out of his protection he was shot at from all angles. He had put up a bubble style shield to protect himself. From all of the spells. He saw one of the spells coming from a higher angle and could see two men perched in a tree. one to fire spells from the high ground and the other to shield, as they were immobile. It didn't seem like they saw their weakness. Triton switched control of the shield to his free hand and swept his wand in an arc in front of him and sent a strong cutter at the base of the tree. The curse cut clean through the tree and gouged deep into the one behind it. The tree started to tilt forward and creaking could be heard as it started to fall. One wizard in the tree slipped off of the branch and started to fire cushioning charms at the ground. The other wasn't able to reach over and shield his partner who never noticed the piercing hex the went clean through his chest. A cry of "Manuel" could be heard from the area that the man landed in.

Triton felt around with his senses for all of the different auras and counted 12. He locked those auras into the ones he was . 'One down twelve to go.' he thought. It was at this moment that the attackers saw that the shield he set up for the girls was still standing and figured out that he didn't have the girls with him. The curses became darker and more dangerous the moment they realized this. Piercing hexes and blasting curses could be felt slamming into his shield. Triton could feel one aura behind a tree at his five o'clock and it was starting to peek out from its hiding place. Obviously this was meant to surprise him. He spun on his heel and fired a blasting at the ground near the person who stepped out. The attacker set up a shield but the spell hit the ground in front of where his shield had been placed and was knocked off balance. Triton fired a quick cutting curse that the attacker tried to jump sideways to dodge but couldn't get far enough before the curse sliced him across his chest. Triton looked at the body and thought the kid was little older than him, maybe freshly out of school.

'He should have left this to the professionals. That's two.' Triton thought. Triton walked around the ice so that he had less angles he had to worry about. Triton's shield was starting to crack from the continuous strain placed against it so he ducked behind a thick tree and picked the side that blocked the most angles. Between the tree and the ice cylinder, he only had to worry about a pair that directly in line with him. He could feel that a couple of the attackers on the other side of the ice had started to target where Fleur and Gabrielle were. He hoped they could hold out. He looked back saw the attackers start to get more creative with their spells and saw 3 transfigured dogs come running at him. He sent a jet of water over the magical constructs and then froze it before shooting a blasting curse at the ice to destroy them.

Through the debri that was kicked up by the resulting explosion came another exploding curse at chest height. Triton quickly dropped to the ground and quickly realized his error when he saw a piercing hex that was coming straight at his face. He put his palm to the ground and fired a wandless banisher at the ground with enough force to propel him upwards. He curled his body as he put his weight forward to do a frontflip. He had almost landed when the blasting curse hit a tree and the concussive force from the blast knocked him off balance. He had to reach to the ground to steady himself and the attackers took the opportunity to throw more spells at him. He was able to dodge the piercing hex that whizzed by his ear but was unable to completely dodge the cutting curse that sliced shallowly into his shoulder. Triton let out a huff. He used his senses to pinpoint the two trees that the attackers were using for cover. He sent to piercing hexes at the trees they behind and watched as they both ducked back behind the trunks before the hexes reached them. Triton then used his connection to water to drain it from the trees they were hiding behind which made them with and die. The two were too shocked by what happened to raise shields to block the curses. One of the piercers went through the neck of the one on the left and the one on the right got hit straight through the forehead. This whole exchange happened in less than fifteen seconds. 'There's four.'

The others who had been circling to get into position saw their two comrades fall. This seemed to enrage them even further as the curses that were used were done to cause a painful death rather than a quick one. Blood boilers and entrail expellers were being thrown into the mix as well as some cruciatus curses. Triton quickly enveloped himself in a half dome of ice and sat down. It was time to try something he had been working on. He wasn't able to use it while in combat, but if he was still he could control his ability. He split his magic into 6 different tasks. The first was to keep supplying magic to the shield as he had drawn all attention to himself with the killing of the previous two men. The second was to keep sensing for the attackers. The rest of his tasks were similar as they each grabbed a portion of the water he'd pulled from the trees earlier and made four two inch thick disks with the edges becoming razor thin and serrated and started to spin them rapidly. He expanded his senses to feel where each of the remaining 9 were and sent the disks out. He sent the first wave skimming along the grass so that they were hard to see. He used his senses to find one of the people that was off on his own and sent them towards him. He felt one of the disks go through the attacker's ankles and brought a second one following close behind to slice his throat. 'Eight.'

He felt the barrage of curses at his shield lessen as the rest of the group tried to figure out what was attacking them now. They soon caught the glints off of the disks flying just off the ground.

"Destroy those things. We can get him afterwards." a voice came through the intercoms. The spellfire switched from the shield to try and hit the disks. There were multiple exploding curses thrown out and one of them clipped a disk, which caused it to shatter into fragments.

With the absence of one of the disks, Triton was able to start focusing more on the remaining three. He was able to better weave them through all of the spell fire. He sent one straight at the a pair that had stepped out into the open. One of them levitated a number of pebbles and shotgunned them towards the speeding disk where they reached and shattered it about ten feet ahead of them. Neither had time to react to the shattered pieces of ice that went into their bodies like shrapnel from a bomb. 'Six.'

A stray spell had clipped one of the last two disks so Triton was down to his last remaining one. It was at this point that he stopped channeling magic into his ice shield and slipped out of it. He kept a slight focus on the disk while looking for easy pickings from their distraction to the disks. He was able to pick off the wizard who had fell from the tree earlier. He was then able to hit one of the last two remaining pairs in the back right after they finished off the disk. The remaining members of the assault team were spread out in front of him. They all walked into the clearing.

The remaining three were giving each other nervous looks. The one who wasn't with a partner suddenly blurted out. "I'll stop if you just let me go. I won't come after the girls ever again. I just want to live.". He whispered the last part.

"You were given the option to take the job. The moment you took that contract it was life or death and besides, I detest cowards." Triton said. The man tried to start backing away before Triton started firing spells. Neither of the other two went to help him as he tried to back his way out of the attack. Eventually he tripped in his nervousness and his shield faltered enough for a cutting hex to make its way through his shield and into his chest.

The last two got into dueling stances and one sprung a shield to life while the other started looking for opportunities to strike. Triton decided he had had enough of this tonight and started to make tons of arrow tips out of ice and started to banish them at high speeds where both men had put up shields to block the barrage. The ice would hit the shields and shatter. Triton made one of the ice tips three times as large as normal and sent it overhead and it sailed past their shields. Neither noticed it break apart, nor did they notice the ice needles that flew into the backs and through their hearts. Both bodies slumped to the ground as the life faded from them.

Triton stopped making more ice with a groan of relief. His reserves were getting low after that stunt he pulled with the disks. He started to walk towards the dome that was protecting the two Delacour sisters and passed the body of the youngest attacker when his body moved on instinct the instant he felt the well up of magic. He wasn't fast enough to dodge all the way and took a bone breaker to his left arm. He felt an exploding curse coming at him as he turned around and was just barely able to deflect it downward, though this had the effect of knocking him backwards and blowing his wand out of his hand.

Triton lay groaning on the ground as a shadow loomed over him. He looked up to see the youngest of the attackers with a slash on his chest, but not deep enough to maim. Triton cursed himself for not checking to see if they were all dead.

" _I knew the Lions were better than those stupid Misfits. No one believed that I could do it but here you are, at my mercy."_ he gloated. " _I guess it's time for me to get the hostages and to get the pay all to myself. Any last words?"_ he asked. Triton just stared at him in defiance. _Fine then. Have it your way._ Avada Ke-" _._ Before he could finish the spell he was slammed by a wall of force when Triton sent a wandless banisher. Triton got up and summoned his wand to his hand. And walked over to where Pierre had landed, his wand resting a few feet away from his hand. Triton got near him and stepped on his wand to make sure that he wouldn't be able to retaliate. He started speaking to the young man.

" _I hate people who try not participate in a fight and then claim the pay afterwards. It annoys me greatly. I do have to admit that you got a good surprise attack in. you almost had me there. If you had known if could do wandless magic you probably would have killed me. Too bad for you."_. Triton crouched down and whispered to him. " _But you did cause me a fair amount of pain. I hope you realize that it is about to be reciprocated."_. Pierre looked up in fear. Triton reached down and touched the young man's chest. When his fingers made contact Pierre felt a strange sensation in his chest it kept growing until his entire body felt cold. Triton left him there in the middle of the field with his body completely frozen. Knowing that any of the other attackers trying the same move would have come out while he was down, he confidently walked over to his ice construct and let the magic holding it up drop. When the wall fell, he could see Fleur weakly pointing a wand at him and Gabrielle looking frightened behind her. He could see relief flood both of their eyes when they recognized that it was him.

" _It's time to get you guys home."_. Fleur nodded weakly before collapsing against him as magical exhaustion set in. he wrapped his arm around her and held his other hand out to Gabrielle which she promptly took. He felt that the wards preventing apparition had dropped towards the end of the fight. He focused the some of his remaining energy to disapparate the three of them back to the chateau, leaving only thirteen dead bodies behind. So focused on the auras of the attackers that he failed to notice a certain pink haired witch who had come halfway through the fight to investigate a large useage of magic.


	6. what big teeth you have

**Disclaimer: obviously, I only own the idea of my story and not that of the original author of this series.**

 _'French thoughts'_

 _"French speech"_

'English thoughts'

"English speech"

This method is reversed in flashbacks

Not even going to try putting French accents into the English portions

Sorry about the long stretch of silence. I had to reinstall my OS. So, yay. It gave me some time to think about the route I want the plot to take and this chapter's last edition was pretty shit. I rewrote the latter portion of this chapter. It was rushed and I didn't have time to fully go through all of my ideas like I would have liked to. Somebody in the comments noted that he didn't seem like the character I was building and I agree. I'm happy to be out of school so that I can have more time to write.

P.S. Fuck work

Chapter 6: what big teeth you have

Triton landed hard upon arrival in the Delacour estate. He was able to hold the girls and keep them from hitting the ground as hard as him. They landed lightly upon the ground in boneless heaps. Gabrielle was looking drowsy now that the action was done, and Fleur was still out from magical exhaustion. Triton raised his unhurt arm and lifted both of the girls before floating them over to the couches. He laid them gently upon the couches and then took a seat upon a high back chair before settling down and started to tend to his injuries.

He had only been there for about twenty minutes before the sound of a door opening and frantic voices reached his ears.

 _"I haven't heard anything from any of them. I asked the people who were running the portkey operations and they told me that they hadn't seen any of them and when I checked the unused portkeys, ours was still there. We found an area with thirteen dead bodies but it's unclear if there were any more that were involved that took them."._ He could hear Bastien telling his wife.

 _"Should we send out a search party?"_ the distraught mother asked.

Triton felt like it was his turn to speak out. _"There isn't any need for that. We are fine. Your daughters are sleeping on the couches over here."_ Triton said and heard steps coming down the hallway towards where he currently was.

The parents reached the room and both let out a sigh of relief at the sight of their daughters. Apolline rushed over to them and started checking for injuries.

 _"They are fine. Gabrielle fell asleep from the emotional turmoil and your eldest has a mild case of magical exhaustion. She was upholding the barrier keeping them safe while I was fighting off the abductors. She should be fine with a good night's rest and some food tomorrow."_ Triton told the concerned duo.

Apolline got done with her scan of her children and backed off, apparently pleased with what she had seen. She went over and whispered in Bastien's ear about how she wanted to take care of the kids tomorrow. Bastien then turned to Triton.

 _"I can't thank you enough for how you protected our daughters. If you need anything from the auror division in France, just let me know."_ Bastien told his daughters' guardian.

 _"I'll hold you to that, but as long as the rest of the payment is delivered within the next two days then I will be happy."_ Triton said as he got up from the chair and both adults got a better look at him. More specifically, at his mangled arm.

 _"Are you ok?"_ the matriarch of the family asked him.

Triton looked down at his arm before giving a noncommittal grunt. _"It's nothing that hasn't happened before. I'll be fine."_ He told them before heading towards the front door.

 _"Are you sure you don't want to stay the night and heal? It would be no problem for us to host you even though your job is over. I feel like we owe it to you for protecting our daughters so well."_ She told him.

 _"You said it yourself. My job is over. Plus, I can heal better at home with all the potions that I have stocked there."._ Untold to either of the conscious Delacours was that he had enough potions to last him for multiple missions within his trunk, but he didn't need other people knowing about his trunk. He continued his trek to the front door before being stopped one last time, this time by Bastien.

 _"Did you figure out who sent these men?"_ he asked.

Triton gave a small shake of the head. _"No. I killed them all before they could tell me anything."._ He left it unsaid that he could have interrogated the last guy, but he was too mad after he got hurt to want to do that.

 _"How did you get hurt? Multiple spells at a single time and one slipped through your shielding?_ Bastien asked him.

Triton snorted before answering. _"No. nothing like that. There was one of the members in the group who had learned to suppress his aura so that nothing leaked out and he got hit by a spell that was shallower than it appeared and he suppressed his aura so that I thought he was dead. He got me from behind with a bone breaker to the arm. He's the one that was frozen solid in the middle of the clearing."_

Bastien just gave a look of understanding. _"Sometimes, the weakest are the craftiest, or else they would be the first ones to die. They find any avenue that will help give them a leg up from the lower position they have started in."_

Triton stored away that piece of information. _"If that is all then I will be heading out."_ He told them. He got two farewells as he went to the edge of the property line before disapparating and landing in his apartment. He went about taking his trunk off of his neck and undoing all of the locks before grabbing a bottle of skele gro and a pain killing potion. He set the bones in his injured arm and locked it in place. He quickly gulped down the pain killing potion and felt the throbbing start to die down. Next, he chugged the skele gro and nearly spat it out at the taste. He had forgotten how bad that this particular potion tasted. He went to bed knowing his arm should be useable by the morning.

The floo in the headmaster's office roared into bright green flames. The only human occupant in the room looked over towards his avian companion. "Who do you think that could be, Fawkes?". A trill that sounded musical was his only reply. "Well it would be best if we didn't keep them waiting." And with that he went over to the fireplace.

"Hello?" he questioned to the fire place.

"Professor. It's good to see you tonight. Would I be able to come through? This is rather urgent." She asked of him.

"Of course, Nymphodora. My doors are always open to those in need." He took a couple steps back and gave room for entry. Within the next few seconds a whooshing sound could be heard and out came a young pink haired woman who stumbled as she came out, but recovered before she was sent fully sprawling across the floor.

"Professor I really need to show you something." Her voice trailed off at the end of her statement as she got a good look at the headmaster's attire. He was wearing sky blue pajamas that had a sun over where his heart was with rainbows being formed and then turning upside down into smiles before fading from view.

"Aaahhh yes." He gave a little chuckle. "These can be a little distracting. Let me get something to put over it." He gave a wave of his wand and a robe came zooming into the room and settled itself over the man's body. "Now, how can I help you tonight Nymphodora?" he asked.

She made a grimace at the name. "Firstly, have you heard about the events at the world cup. And secondly, please don't call me that." She asked and then requested of him.

"I'm sorry dear. You know age and all. It must have slipped my mind. As to my knowledge of the events tonight I had heard about it but I wasn't there or involved, so I left it up to the aurors. Was there anything I needed to know?" he asked of her.

"Well, after we started to push the death eaters back, I started to feel some heavy usage of magic in the opposite direction of the campsite and towards the portkey area. I went to go check it out to make sure there weren't any more death eaters trying to cause havoc for people trying to escape and I instead found myself watching a battle that was about nine on one by the time I got there."

"And were you able to save this person?" he asked her.

"That's just it. He won the fight and disappeared. When the aurors went through the bodies left behind, they found the people were of multiple nationalities. The ones we were able to identify quickly were some of the more well-known bounty hunters of their countries. We are assuming that the rest of them are of the same profession. The man disappeared shortly after he had killed the last person in the attacking group. He was slightly injured when he apparated away with two girls. I was coming here to ask if you would know who this was so that maybe we could find him and bring him in for questioning."

"Do you mind giving me a memory of the event? It might help me determine who this person is." The old man asked.

"No, it's no problem at all." She stated. She reached up to her temple with her wand as Dumbledore summoned the pensieve over to them. Tonks dropped the shimmering silver strand into the bowl and let Dumbledore go watch the memory. He came back out with a thoughtful look on his face.

"I don't know who this would be off the top of my head but I have two people who might." He said as he went over to the fireplace and made two calls. Within the next three minutes Alastor Moody and James Potter were standing in the office.

"Good evening gentlemen." The wizened man told the two newcomers.

"Dumbledore." Moody said with a nod in his direction. "You said something urgent had come up. What is it?" he asked.

"I was having trouble identifying a man who was involved in a fight during the world cup and I assumed that a man of his talents would not pop up out of nowhere. With you both being an auror, past or current, I was thinking one of you might recognize him." Dumbledore told the pair.

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's go." The excited statement came from the man child in the room.

The two of them descended upon the pensieve before they both entered it. When they exited, James had a disgruntled look upon his face while Alastor was giving a few chuckles.

"Yes, I know who that is." James said. "He was the guy that attacked Thomas and then me. He was the protector of the Delacour family during the World Cup." James told Dumbledore.

"So, do you know the man's identity?" Dumbledore asked James.

"No. I just know that he was protecting the Delacours. Maybe we can go ask them about it." He stated.

"I don't think that there is any need for that." He looked over at Moody, who still had a rather feral grin upon his face. "I think that Alastor over here knows who this man is."

"Aye, I do. Well, more by reputation and alias rather than his actual identity. I doubt many if any at all know his true identity. He's one of the top mercenaries over in France. His alias is Triton and I have never read about him not get the man that he was after. He's probably one of the best on this continent if not in the world. It's always a pleasure watching him work. The ice blades when we first came into the memory were a new one though." Moody finished with a good laugh.

James had gotten continuously paler as Moody continued as he remembered what the boy had told him _"_ _you should learn who you are talking to before you threaten them. It may turn out…..poorly."_. If he had known who he was talking to the guy who had remorselessly killed thirteen people he never would have taken it with such an attitude.

"Everything all right James?" the headmaster asked.

"I'm fine. I think it's time for me to head home. I will see you guys around." He turned and went through the floo once his statement was finished in a _whoosh_ of flames.

The elder of the room turned to the grizzled war veteran. "Do you think we could bring him in if we had a large enough auror escort?"

"Not a chance. They have been looking for him for years in France but no one has been able to find him. It would just be a waste of the men's time." Was the reply.

Thank you for coming tonight old friend, and you too miss Tonks for bringing this to my attention. You two should go home and get some rest. It is getting rather late."

There was the exchanging of good byes before the fireplace flared green twice, signaling the absence of the two visitors. Dumbledore went over to his desk, all the while contemplating the new dilemma that had dropped into his lap. "What are we going to do about this one? There seems to be something more about this boy." he said to the being of fire. A low croon was the only answer he got. One that gave him no answers, but did give a better feeling that this issue could be handled.

Triton was woken by the sun that came streaming through the window. He groaned in annoyance before rolling over and giving a wince from the pain, his shoulder throbbing from the injury. It would take a few days before it would be fully healed. That meant that he had to find something to occupy his free time. With the thought of alleviating his boredom, he started to peruse his collection of books and journals to see if there was anything of interest for him. It was as he was sifting through his collection that he found a journal. One that had told him much about what his ancestors had brought forth into this world.

Hadrian got lost in the memory about the journal entry that had given him a glimpse into the fact that there was magic that was greater than any person could make. An entry from one Ignotus Peverell to be exact.

 _Hadrian was sitting in his apartment and reading the various books he had gotten from the Peverell vault. He had been reading through several of the family members' journals. He had come across three brothers' journals within his pile. He had originally gone to start on the eldest brother's journal before laying it aside. He grabbed the youngest bother's journal, as that was the man who was his direct ancestor. It was after a few hours of reading that he came upon the final entry. The writing that was on the paper was light, lending truth to the fact that it was written in his last days of life. It immediately consumed his interest._

"Upon my deathbed, I am writing about the three items that were given to me and my siblings. It started on a normal day of traveling. We were making our way across the countryside, looking for the varying ways that people used magic. My brothers and I came across a river. It was a few thousand feet across and very rapid. We looked for the shortest distance between the two sides and saw it downstream. We walked for about fifteen minutes before coming upon our desired area. Even at this part of the river, the water looked like something that we could not just swim across and we pulled out our wands.

We made a bridge across it and were making our way over before multiple lavellan jumped out of the water. The common term for this creature is a water mole. They are extremely poisonous and I soon found out why no travelers ever came back from this area, magical or not. We put physical shields around us and gave ourselves clean air to breath. We started to fire off spells to keep them off of us before my brother conjured a stone the size of my head. He tossed the rock into the water before shooting an explosion curse at it. The shockwave from the blast killed all of the lavellans that were still in the water and we made quick work of the ones that had worked their way onto the bridge.

Once we were sure there were no more lavellans on the bridge, we continued on our way. We had almost made it all the way to the other side before we were stopped by a cloaked figure. It introduced itself as Death. He told us that we were the first to pass this trap that he had set up to cause the demise of travelers. He told us that he had been brought here by a wizard who had been practicing necromancy. The wizard died from the ritual he had been trying to perform. He had been trying to call upon Death so that he would be able to trap him and exchange Death's freedom for his own immortality. He failed to take into account that the energy necessary to call upon a god was beyond what any one human could conjure. Once the ritual had started, there was no turning back. The necromancer only had enough energy to open the portal to his location and was drained of energy and life before Death had even arrived. When Death saw what was transpiring, he had become furious. In return for trying to trap him, Death created a trap near the cave that the wizard had been performing his ritual. He thought it was only fair to leave something as punishment for what had been attempted.

When he was done with the tale, he congratulated us on passing this test he had put up and offered each of us one wish from him. My eldest brother wished for a wand that would let him do extraordinary feats of magic. Death went over and fashioned a wand from a nearby elder tree and handed it to him. My brother's face blossomed into a smile when his hand touched the handle of the wand. He pointed the wand up to the sky and swiped from one side to the other. Rain clouds that were off in the distance were quickly brought over us and it started to drizzle. Antioch walked off the bridge and onto land where he told us that he would be going his separate way. Death turned to Cadmus. Cadmus asked for something with the ability to recall the dead. He was given a stone that Death had grabbed off of the riverbank and was told that it could not fully bring back the dead. It would only be able to bring back shadows of what once were. My brother just acknowledged that fact. It was good enough for the purpose that he wanted the stone for. He walked off the bridge and told me that he would also be going his own way, then slowly wandered off into the horizon.

I know the stories that have come up about my brothers' items and the reasons they were gotten. The general story about why my brothers picked their items were false. They picked their items for the same reason, but had different strategies on how to get to their goal. Both of them had tried and failed to get the headship of the house. Once a person has tried on the ring and failed, it is no longer able to be seen or touched by that person. The box that held the ring is currently hidden in the house that we grew up in. Because of the fact that they can't see or feel it, neither of them know that I currently hold the Lordship.

I will not tell them for fear of what they would do to me to try and get the headship. Antioch would probably try to duel me for the head of house, even though our house leadership cannot be transferred in that way. Cadmus would be his usual calculating self and would try to create a ritual to transfer it. I am not sure whether it would work or not. However, I am getting off topic. Antioch wanted the wand for the power in hopes that he could show our family magic that it was wrong about him.

Cadmus wanted the ring to call upon our ancestors for any way that he could get himself another chance for becoming the Peverell lord. When Death turned to me, I could see the mirth that was hidden in his eyes. One brother had taken a gift that would be a magnet for trouble and the second had taken something that would only lock him on the course for madness. He knew they would be coming to him sooner rather than later. I knew that I needed something that would be able to hide me from my brothers and from Death should he not like that my gift did not lead a fast-tracked path straight back to him. I asked for something that would be able to obscure me from even Death himself. Death's eyes seemed to glow in anger before finishing my request. He couldn't back out after he had given us his word that he would give us a wish and as such he reached to the cloak on his back and cut off a piece of it. It slowly turned into a traveler's cloak that I put on. When I raised the hood, I could see myself become transparent to my own eyes and knew what I had was better than any of the invisibility cloaks that I had heard about. When I became invisible and started walking, I could see Death looking all around him. He was searching for me and couldn't find me.

I continued in the direction that my brothers had headed off in. I never saw Antioch alive after that day. It only took Death a few months to claim my eldest sibling. He died after boasting while drunk and was killed that same night. I was never able to find the wand. Cadmus survived longer. It took around 5 years for Death to come claim him. He had lost his mind after his first year of study. It was only him and the dead that occupied our childhood home. I had come and visited every couple of months, but stopped when his obsession with the lordship consumed him. He tried everything he could think of to give him another shot at becoming the lord. Eventually he came up with a ritual that would bring the family magic upon him without the need for the ring. When called upon, the family magic was not happy at trying to be cheated. It burned out all of his magic for daring to try control it.

Then I was alone. It was a few years after the death of both of my brothers that I came to a conclusion. A power must come from one's self to ever truly be utilized to its fullest potential. I am sure that Death's cloak does much more upon its master than it will ever be on me. But finally, a message to any of my descendants that read this. True power is not measured within how strong the individual is, but how well he can manipulate the world around him. Carry on the line to the best of your abilities and show people what it means to be a Peverell.

 _Hadrian finished the final entry and thought about his ancestor's message. He would unravel the secrets of magic, and no one and nothing would be able to touch him._

Hadrian came out of the memory. It was his ancestor's explanation of the need to be its master for its full potential that Hadrian found interesting. He wanted to see for himself what these items could truly do.

It was three days later that Hadrian had finally gotten to the point of having his arm back to full functionality. During that time, all he could do was reread some of the books he had while also practicing his occlumency and his ability to multitask his magic. He left the apartment with all of his gear, changed his features and walked into the alleyway behind the building so that he could apparate to the bar.

When he walked in, he was greeted by the slurring of one of the misfits. _"Hey guys. He's alive."_ he said before raising his glass towards him. Some of the other occupants looked up to see him and gave him small nods or the occasional smile. The man who was slurring started to speak again. _"So, we had a running bet and we need you to set the record straight. Did the little shit from the Lions die first or later? That guy seemed like a real prick."_. There was a little more interest in the bar for the answer.

 _"Believe it or not but that little shit was the last one alive, albeit in the most cowardly way possible."_ Triton said.

 _"Damn it."_ The drunk man growled as he slammed his mug onto the table. He reached into his pocket and fished around a little bit before pulling up five galleons. He then proceeded to throw them towards Jim, who used his enhanced speed to catch them all out of the air. The only response he gave the man was a small but noticeable smirk.

 _"Calm down Nathan. Your next round is on me. Will that make u feel better you big baby?"_ Triton taunted him. Nathan tensed his legs as if to dive off of his seat before thinking better of it and begrudgingly sitting down to enjoy what was going to be a free drink.

 _"Now, I'm guessing that if you know who was going to be on the job that you guys were invited into the fray as well."_ He stated. He knew that he had gotten lucky in getting a group that actually had some emotions left. This wasn't just a place to pick up work, it was a place that one could feel safe because of the protection the group would provide.

A smaller man turned from his table to speak to him. He had dark black hair with chocolate brown eyes that shifted side to side, constantly surveying the room. He had a lean build that was made for mobility. _"Ya, we were there. There were also some of the lions that had been invited. All of them except for the one you killed left when we did. He kept saying he was going to show that the lions were the best. What a dumbass."_ He said.

 _"I appreciate that you guys didn't accept the job. It would have been harder to finish and I wouldn't have been able to face Jim after making him lose half of his income."_ Triton stated.

There were some vulgar comments thrown towards by some of the people and Triton took it all with a small smile. It felt good to be in a place he felt he belonged. This was one of the places that he had a group of people he could depend on that was of his own choosing. It was after everyone had quieted down that Jim spoke to him.

 _"Are you just coming in to talk shit about these guys or are you here for some more work? I know that some people have figured out it was you at the world cup and you have gotten various requests ranging from simple bodyguarding some of the less reputable politicians on their holidays to the assassinations of said politicians. There are also some bounties on outlaws. Anything of interest to you?"_

Triton contemplated those jobs for a moment. He then gave a slight shake of the head. _"Not really. I kind of don't want to have to deal with anything that holds a connection to anything political. Something that I haven't done before so that I can expand my experience. Do you have anything like that?"_ he asked.

Jim shuffled through the requests in his hand. _"Nothing in here specifically for you, but we do have some in the general requests. There is a request for a band of thieves to be stopped…"_ He saw Triton shaking his head. _"…then we also have one to be a thief yourself, stealing from a mafia secured place…"_ Triton raised his hand and gave it a little shake to show that he might take it if nothing better was up. _… then one of the last ones that fit your criteria would be a pack of werewolves that have been terrorizing a community in the far north of France."_ At this job, Triton started showing some interest. He had never done a job that had werewolves involved. Jim saw the interest showing in his eyes.

 _"Then I'm guessing that you'll be taking this job?"._ Triton gave a nod and Jim pulled out one of the pieces of paper before handing it to him. _"This is the info that we got about the group. They are a pack of about eight to ten that have been seen prowling around villages during the full moon. The villages have set up some wards but they aren't strong enough to resist if the whole pack comes and tries to break through."_ Jim explained.

Triton listened to the details before starting to head for the door. _"I'll be on it first thing in the morning. Wish you guys the best of luck on your jobs."_ He said to the occupants before heading out.

He woke up to a sharp whistling and slammed his hand down onto his alarm clock. It might get him up every morning but that didn't mean he didn't want to reduce it to ashes from the sounds it could make. The clock read 4:00 A.M. Hadrian started to put all of his gear on as he grabbed his trunk and made sure he had all of the right provisions for the cooler weather. Once he confirmed that he had all he needed, he pulled his hood over his head and flood to a bar in a village a little way away from Lumbres.

The only people who were up at this time of day were the early risers and the people who were setting up for the morning breakfast crowd. He only had one person who turned his head when he arrived before he turned back to his newspaper. The village he was currently in was an all magical village that piggybacked off of the supplies that came to Lumbres. It had strong muggle repelling charms and was hidden fairly well by the surrounding trees. He looked over the information that he had gotten from Jim and looked for where the villagers thought the werewolves were staying. He found the report of them staying around the northeast side of the village before retreating from sight.

'Better get this done quickly. It's only two days until the full moon. Wouldn't want to have to fight the werewolves at full strength.' He thought. With that thought in mind he set off to track down his prey. He could see the irony in that statement.

It took him almost six hours of him scouring the forest for him to find the place where they had hunkered down. It was a cave that was built into rock it looked like it had been crudely carved out by curses that weren't applied entirely correctly. He stayed watching for about 15 minutes before extending his magic out to see how many he could feel inside the cave. When his magic washed through the cave, he could feel eight presences. All of them had the light feeling of sleep and he decided it was now or never to get rid of them before they all woke up.

Hadrian deftly creeped down the cliff. The sun had almost reached its peak point in the sky. When he walked into the cave, he realized his first mistake. He walked towards the outer edge of the cave and let his eyes adjust to the darkness that he was about to enter into. After a minute of letting his eyes adjust, he headed further into the cave. It was deeper than he would have thought it was. He went through a couple of twists and turns before he reached an open area with soft beds of grass that had wolf looking humans on them. 'Great. These are the ones that want to be wolves. This will be a little more difficult.' He thought.

Hadrian tried to think of the best way to take them all out at once. If he didn't, then after the first one he was going to have to deal with a bunch of pissed off werewolves. Hadrian stayed on the outside of the room and started to create a ball of ice that was the size of a disco ball. It took a minute of slowly pushing his magic into the ball before it became the size he wanted. He didn't know if any of them could sense magic and wasn't taking the risk of waking them up with the fast buildup of magic. He started to raise the ball to the top of the cave. He was focused on doing this with the most minimal amount of magic that he never noticed a pair of eyes that had snapped open. Right as his ball reached the top the man who had woken up let out a howl. The others started to wake up and all turned towards him.

Hadrian immediately cracked the ball into shards and sent them raining down upon the men. Some were able to get shields above themselves in time while some of the others dodged below cover. The ice shards viciously sliced through the air and into the bodies of three of the wolves. The remaining werewolves were recovering from the brief attack while Hadrian started to fire spells at all of them. He couldn't use anything with too much potential damage for fear of bringing the cave down upon him. Slicers, bone breakers, blood boilers, conjured sliver needles, ice shards and piercers were getting fired in a constant stream towards the wolves. They dodged, ducked, dipped dived, and dodged around the spell fire that was streaming their way. Hadrian's spell weaving only faltered when he saw the one of the men transform into a full werewolf. He saw that the rest were following suit.

'What the fuck. These guys are able to change without the full moon?' Hadrian thought before remembering one profile he had read. Fenrir Greyback had gotten to this point, the point of merging with the inner to be able to change at will. The people who did that usually liked the strength of the wolf and preferred to be in wolf form. He came out of the thought and fired a low leveled blasting curse at the ground that caused dust to shoot into the werewolves' eyes. One of the beasts howled loudly and was shaking his head. Hadrian took the foremost wolf out with a piercer between its eyes and had to jump back from the next wolf's lunge. He could feel his clothes flapping from the wind that came with that swing.

'Too close. Need more distance.'. That was easier said than done. Being in a confined space with multiple werewolves wasn't his best idea. Hadrian manipulated the ground to launch him towards the ceiling. On his way up, he did a half flip while simultaneously applying a sticking charm to his feet. He landed on the ceiling and fired a ribbon cutting curse that sliced the fattest of the pack in half, not being able to dodge the whole length of the curse. Hadrian continued raining down curses upon them. The wolves were consistently dodging his spells. When they saw that he was out of range for their ability to jump they started maneuvering around the room until two were lined up. The one in the back started running towards the first one. When he reached him, he ran onto the front beasts back before jumping at Hadrian while receiving a boost from his packmate that was now below him.

'Shit.' Hadrian thought. The thing with using the sticking charm in the situation is that you are stuck in that one place. Hadrian tried to cancel the sticking charm. By the time it got cancelled, the wolf was already barreling into him at high speeds. The only thing that the resting place provided him was a slightly softer ground to land on. Hadrian slammed into the ground with his back being the first thing to connect. The wolf that landed beside him immediately pounced on him and went for the fangs towards his throat. Hadrian quickly encase his forearm in a thick block of ice before shoving it into his attacker's mouth. The wolf's teeth sank about halfway into the ice before stopping. Hadrian could see the ice cracking from the pressure the wolf was putting on it. The ice extended into a blade that sliced through the throat of the wolf. Blood splashed down onto his face as he could see the light leave the wolf's eyes.

He looked to the left to see the next wolf charging and used a banisher upon the corpse had right in front of him and sent it into the path of the angered packmate. With the wolf getting knocked back, it gave him enough breathing room to get back to his feet. His vision swam in front of him as he stood up. 'That fall must have gotten me worse than I thought. I need to end this quickly.' He thought. The last two wolves were prowling close together, looking for an opening to pounce on. They could see that he was injured and were just looking for a way exploit it. Hadrian created a whip of water in each hand. The wolves knew they would lose in a battle where he held the range advantage and both started to charge Hadrian. Hadrian focused towards the one on the right. He sent lash with the whip towards its feet which it vaulted over. Hadrian followed up with a strike to its now exposed underside. He froze the tip of the whip and watched as it sliced through the area that held the heart. The loss of focus on the other wolf cost him as he was able to avoid the teeth but not the claws that followed it. Hadrian received three slash marks across his right pectoral that were about half an inch deep. Hadrian looked down quickly to assess the damage. He could see that the armor had been shredded clean through. 'If I didn't have this armor I would have been a dead man for sure.' He thought.

He turned his attention back towards his last opponent. The werewolf's teeth were bared and there was a snarling sound filling the cavern. Hadrian's vision started to swim again. 'I need to end this now.' He concluded. He started to gather all of the water from any surrounding source and pulled it towards himself. Water came rushing through the air to fill the area around him. The wolf wasn't going to wait for whatever Hadrian was planning and ran towards him. He sent a stream of water at the wolf and when one arm of water would miss, another would come out of its side towards where the wolf was. Eventually the water snagged the wolf's foot and managed to trip it up. All of the water that was in the cavern converged on the area that the downed wolf was on. He made the water surround the wolf and raised it into the air with the wolf floating in the middle. Hadrian could see the wolf trying to escape, but it could do nothing to escape from its prison. Hadrian could see the panic as the wolf started to franticly move all four of its limbs with the hope to create enough propulsion to get it out. He waited until the moment he saw the wolf give up its struggling from the lack of oxygen and let go of his control on the water. It, along with the wolf, slammed back into the ground. Hadrian walked over to the unmoving body of the wolf and used some of the water to fashion himself a dagger of ice. He then went and plunged it into the heart of the wolf.

He let out a sigh of relief and plopped down onto one of the soft beds of grass, uncaring that he had just killed the previous owner of it. He had just leaned back when he heard rapid clicks upon the rock of the cavern and was able to react to get out of the way of the claw, but the only way to do that meant to get closer to the wolf and he ended up getting hit by the shoulder of the wolf. Hadrian went skidding across the floor. This action only served to aggravate both of his injuries. He could see the inky darkness creeping into the edges of his vision that was calling him into unconsciousness. In a fit of pure panic, Hadrian gathered all the magic he could concentrate on and sent a wave of pure magic at the wolf. There was a short yelp of panic before he saw the get completely burned away by the magic that had hit it. Hadrian could feel his disguise fade away and his magic was extremely low.

Hadrian gave a groan of pain a started to let the darkness take over before he heard soft steps on the stone. The sounded more cautious than the previous wolf's run. He could feel the aura that had the traces of werewolf in it. 'I guess this is the end for me.' He accepted. The last the he heard before he blacked out was a name that he had not heard in years.

"Harry?".

Remus Lupin had been sent to northern France to go talk to a group of werewolves that had previously been a part of Greyback's pack, but had broken off to form their own, smaller pack. He was there to see if he could convince them to go against Greyback. After all, there must have been a reason they broke off from him. He met up with one of the pack at the edge of the forest and they were heading back to where the pack had made camp. A couple of hours into the walk an echoing howl could be heard throughout the forest. Remus's companion immediately took off in the direction that it had come from. Remus followed behind him a little distance away. When they had reached the mouth of the cave, Remus saw his contact fully change into a wolf. He waited a few seconds outside of the cave before heading in. he was following the scent of the wolf he had been travelling with before he heard a panicked yelp and a sizzling sound. Remus cautiously poked his head into the room to see a boy in his mid-teens looking at him with green eyes he had only seen in two people before. The jet-black hair was also a helping factor in his guess for who this person was.

"Harry?".


	7. An Unhappy Reunion

**Disclaimer: obviously, I only own the idea of my story and not that of the original author of this series.**

 _'French thoughts'_

 _"French speech"_

'English thoughts'

"English speech"

This method is reversed in flashbacks

Not even going to try putting French accents into the English portions

Chapter 7: An Unhappy Reunion

Hadrian opened his eyes blearily and quickly shut them again. His head was pounding. He gave a light groan before once again trying to open his eyes. The only good thing he could say about the place was that it was currently dark. He could see the reddish orange of either dawn or dusk peeking over the horizon. He felt around himself and found the soft texture of a mattress underneath him. He tried to remember what had happened before waking up here but it was all a blur. All he could remember was that he had been fighting some werewolves before they had gone into a full change. The garment he had on was a hospital gown. That meant he was in a ward somewhere. He also found that there were bandages wrapped around his head and covering his chest. He looked around to try to find out which hospital he was in but all he could see on either side of him were empty beds. His hands made their way to just below his throat. He gave a sigh of relief upon feeling his hidden trunk there. He didn't know what he would do if he lost it.

He looked around the bedside table for his wand but couldn't find it. He wasn't restrained so that was a plus in his books. He slowly swung his legs off of the bed and put his feet on the floor. The moment he tried to stand his vision started to sway back and forth and he quickly sat back down. He waited for a few second for the feeling to clear standing up again. He slowly stood up again before the feeling returned at a lessened amount. He could at least handle this much. He started to creep around the ward, searching for anything that would give him a clue to where he was and who the people who held him were.

He was walking towards a cupboard and spotted his reflection in the glass. He no longer had his disguise in place and he couldn't change back without giving away his abilities. It seemed like these people didn't know exactly who he was. He was about to open the cabinet that was closest to his bed before a shrill voice shot through the air, breaking the silence. "What in Merlin's name do you think that you are doing?". The owner of the voice was an older lady who now had her wand out. Hadrian took a defensive position and looked towards where the voice was coming from.

"In all of my years of healing I have never seen someone who wants to aggravate their injuries more than you do. You had a severe concussion along with multiple lacerations across your torso. Now get back into bed young mister before I have to place you there with restraints." The healer said in a sharp tone. Hadrian couldn't help but agree with her assessment. He felt like shit. His vision was getting foggier the longer he remained standing. The mercenary made his way back to the bed he had previously vacated and gingerly laid back down. He could hear the matron letting out an annoyed huff.

"And you better stay there while I go get the headmaster." The matron said before talking strong long gaits out of the ward and into the hallway. Hadrian was trying to piece together what he could and it didn't take long for him to come to a conclusion. Headmaster, that meant he was at a school. The use of English without any foreign accent meant that it was in Britain. The old stones and the gigantic source of magic he could feel could only mean one thing. He had been brought to Hogwarts.

The headmaster of said school was currently rubbing his tired eyes. It was about six in the morning. "No rest for the weary, huh Fawkes?" he asked his companion. The immortal fire bird just shook his head and gave a feeble croon before returning his head back to its resting position underneath its wing. "At least one of us is getting some rest." He grumbled. The wizard who was well into his second century of life had just picked up the report Remus had given him before there was a rapid series of knocks upon the door. Knowing only one person who would currently be in the castle and with a reason to visit him, he called out the person's name.

"Come in Poppy." The door swung inwards, allowing entrance for the one who had been waiting on the other side. The strict matron that was the healer for Hogwarts stepped into the office. She laid down her statement in her usual clipped and business-like tone. "You told me to come to you when the boy woke up and he has. However, I must advise against you going to speak to him right now. He is not in the right mind to have a conversation that requires much thought into the responses, much less a grilling from the most powerful person in wizarding Britain."

Dumbledore just smiled genially at her. "We have talked about this Poppy. It is better that I get this conversation out of the way before the boy's parents arrive. I likely will not get a chance to speak to him alone after they arrive." He got up from his chair and walked around the desk. "If you have no more objections?" he asked her. She resignedly shook her head and headed out the door with the only one Voldemort ever feared close behind her.

It only took a few minutes for them to reach the hospital wing. The large oak doors opened with a minimal amount of squeaking and the two elderly people waked into the ward. Dumbledore could see a figure on one of the beds towards the end of the ward. He made a minute change in his direction so that he was headed specifically for that bed. He stopped a few feet away and waited for the young man to acknowledge his presence. Hadrian was sitting up against the pillows, using them as a backrest, and had his head bowed. It was only after a few minutes and seeing that the sun was starting to slip peak over the horizon that Dumbledore decided to make the first move. He put on his genial grandfatherly smile.

"Harry, I can't tell you how you how good it is to see you again. I am sure that your parents will be thrilled to see you after all of these years." The elderly man stated. He saw that his comment got no reaction out of the boy. Dumbledore waited for the boy to make any sign that he had registered what had just been said. It was thirty seconds later that the boy raised his head from its hanging position to look at the headmaster.

"My wand. Where is it?" he said curtly. He didn't want to have to use wandless magic to get out of this situation if he didn't have to. The wizened man reached his hand into one of the pockets in his robe and pulled out a wand. "Do you mean this wand." He asked. Hadrian nodded his head. "If you are so interested in talking about this wand, then perhaps you can answer some questions about it. For instance, where did you get it? I know for a fact that Ollivander was not the crafter of this wand. All of his have a certain flare to them that is distinctly his. Yours, on the other hand, seems to be designed in a specific way. Care to tell me about it?" Dumbledore asked Hadrian.

"I found it in a second-hand store. Nothing wrong with having a wand is there?" Hadrian replied. Dumbledore just looked at him as though he knew he was lying. However, he decided to play along for the moment. "Well then you must have gotten extremely lucky. Most wands that are found in those types of stores don't always work the best for the wizard that purchases them. From the magic that you were producing in the cave, I must say that the wand suits you very well." Dumbledore stated in a matter-of-fact tone.

Hadrian just gave a noncommittal shrug. "I guess that the panic from having to fight the werewolves caused my wand to bond more closely to me.". Dumbledore continued to smile. "Speaking about the wand and the cave, the last spell that came out of your wand was one of pure magic. Can you tell me where you learned to do such a thing?" he asked. Hadrian put on a face like he was thinking. He shrugged his shoulders before saying. I think it was just some accidental magic. What else could it have been?" he said in a confused tone. Dumbledore just gave a little chuckle. "Yes, it must have been. Our emotions can truly help us when needed, can't they?". Hadrian nodded his head.

Dumbledore was getting a little annoyed by the constant dodging and seemingly plausible answers given to him. "What were you even doing in the cave in the first place? That cave was a distance away from any town." Dumbledore said.

"I was going on a hike through nature. I had started in the morning and had found myself getting tired and wanted to find some place cool to go rest. I saw that there was a cave and went to go sit in it. I found a few werewolves in it who decided to attack me. I didn't let them get the chance to finish the job." Hadrian spun the story. He held out his hand. "My wand, if you would." He told Dumbledore.

Dumbledore was getting rather irritated with the constant misdirection and decided to try and get some answers for himself. 'How strong can a fourteen-year-old's defenses be anyway?' he thought.

Hadrian could feel the mind probe that the headmaster was trying to slip past his defenses. Rather than doing any of the fancy stuff with mind manipulations he would usually do to intruders, he pushed all of the pain he was feeling from the throbbing in his head into the probe the Dumbledore had sent.

Dumbledore immediately went to clutch his head. His probe had been slammed with a massive amount of pain and he wasn't eager to try and reenter that place. The defeater of Grindelwald gave Hadrian a speculative look, as if trying to dissect his whole life from his outwards appearance. He recomposed himself and went to answer the question that had been asked. "I'm afraid that doing any magic with the damage to your head would be a bad idea. Madame Pomfrey has suggested that we keep your wand until you are fully healed to keep you from being tempted. You can have it back once you have completely healed." Dumbledore told him.

Hadrian looked at him with a this-is-total-bullshit look. Dumbledore then started his steps towards the door. "If you need any food or drink, call Tipsy and she will help you. Your parents should be arriving some time tonight. We were going to wake you if you hadn't by yourself." He said before fully exiting the ward.

Hadrian slumped back against the pillows. He was going to have to deal with his family in a setting where they actually knew it was him. That was going to be annoying. Talking about annoying.

"I'm going to need you to drink these potions with your breakfast and then this final one before you go to bed. Any questions young man?" the matron asked. Hadrian shook his head. When the matron left, Hadrian did a quick scan of the potions to make sure that they weren't laced with anything. The potion maker's intent makes a small aura around the potion so that he knew what the intent of the potion was. Once he scanned all of them and determined there was nothing out of place, he was able to fully relax into the bed. The rest of the morning and early afternoon consisted of him flitting in and out of sleep.

He could hear them coming even before the doors to the ward were opened. It was the worried talking from a voice that he remembered well, even if he hadn't heard it in years. "Is he ok? Where did you find him?" she asked. She obviously didn't like the answer because within a few seconds he could hear a "What in Merlin's name was he doing there?" the question echoed down the hall. He could only start to hear Dumbledore's voice as the party was reaching the doors of the ward. The doors slowly opened to reveal the owners of the voices along with two more people. The elder of the two had a concerned look on his face while the other one had a look of nonchalance about the whole situation. The throbbing within Hadrian's head had lessened somewhat, however he knew that the next conversation was going to make his headache worsen.

A shout of "Harry" was followed by his mother zooming across the room and giving him a hug. When she got close, Hadrian could see the unshed tears in her eyes. Her face was positively beaming in happiness. She looked confused as to why he wasn't returning the hug before turning to Dumbledore. "Is he having memory loss?" she asked of the headmaster. The old man shook his head. "No. We had a discussion earlier this morning and he seemed to be recalling events just fine." He replied.

She then turned back to Hadrian. "Don't you remember me, my sweet baby?" she asked. He just tilted his head back so that he could look her in the eye. "It's hard not to remember someone I lived in the same house as during my formative years." He said. Her face morphed into an expression of sadness. "It's ok to call me mom you know. Just because you have been gone doesn't mean we didn't think about you or want you to be here." She said through a half sob. Hadrian just looked at her at her with a nonplussed look.

"That's so nice to hear that I was thought about more when I was gone than when I was actually living in the house. I guess you really don't know what you feel about something until its gone." Hadrian intoned. Lily had a look of despair on her face whilst James spoke up for the first time. "Don't speak to your mother like that. She's been worried sick over you for these past years. Don't give her a dressing down as if she means nothing." James told him in an angry voice.

Hadrian turned his attention to the head of the Potter family. "I'm sorry. I didn't have a male role model in my life to show me the rights and wrongs about societal interactions. Maybe if you had shown me before I had disappeared then it would have been ingrained into my memory." He mocked James. A light shade of red made its way onto James' face as his look turned to anger. "How dare you!" he thundered. Hadrian just looked on passively. "The old saying rings especially true now. Nothing hurts more than the truth. I wonder how many lies you've had to tell yourself so that you could function normally. Did you tell yourself that I was more mature than Thomas? Or was it that your other son needed more attention because his fame made it necessary for you to teach him about the world? I'm curious to know which it was." Hadrian said to James.

James looked like he was about to launch himself at Hadrian before Dumbledore stepped in. "I think it's best if we had a moment to think upon what has been said today before we say anything else that will not be able to be taken back." He then turned to the Potter parents specifically. "I will message you when Poppy has given him the all clear. We can have a discussion when we are all of sound mind." Lily gave a tearful nod while James was still looking angrily at Hadrian and gave a slight tilt of his head. The family left the ward whilst Dumbledore stayed behind.

"You needn't be so harsh on them Harry. They are only trying to get to know their son who has been gone for several years. Do you think ridiculing them is somehow going to make this easier?" Dumbledore asked the elemental. Hadrian snorted. "get to know me? If they were going to take the time to get to know me now then that would be more time than they ever spent trying when I was a kid. I don't care about being a part a that family. They sicken me." Hadrian said with vitriol. His resentment towards his parents was starting to come through the cracks. His occlumency hadn't been worked on for a few days and the annoyance from being bed ridden and not being allowed to use magic was wearing on his nerves.

Dumbledore had a sad expression on his face. "What about your brother? He had no say in what your parents were doing." Dumbledore tried to reason. Hadrian shook his head at the headmaster's attempts at trying to form some type of bridge. "I know you trained him so you must have seen the traits he possesses. Arrogance, greed, a superiority complex. Why would I want to get to know someone like that? That person seems like an arsehole who doesn't seem fun to be around. Go ahead, tell me I'm wrong." Hadrian told him.

Dumbledore just gave a heavy sigh. "What happened to you that made you think like this? Everyone needs a family. It's how we are taught how to love and love is the greatest magic there is." He said. Hadrian scoffed. "putting aside the last comment about love, I never said a didn't want a family. I just said that I didn't want to be a part of that particular one. If I'm going to have a family, it's going to be of my choosing. End of story. Now please leave Mr. Dumbledore, I am feeling tired and I need my rest." Hadrian said before reaching over to the desk by his bedside and grabbing the potion he was supposed to take. It was to help his brain heal while he was sleeping. The potion tasted like cat piss and Hadrian was barely able to swallow it. The potion had a slight sedative and knocked him out cold within the next minute.

Dumbledore snuck back into the ward in the middle of the night and was looking at the boy. If one were to look, they would be able to see the cogs turning within the old man's mind. He had seen the memory from Lupin when he had gone to the werewolf cave. He had studied the damaged room at length to try and determine what spells were used and the power levels that were along with it. The amount of water within the cave was astonishing. Dumbledore didn't think that Remus realized that the grass and some of the smaller vegetation around the front of the cave was dead. It looked like they hadn't seen water in weeks even though the grass right next to it was full of life. He used his contacts in France to let him see the case files for the investigations into Triton. After combing through them for hours he was able to find similarities between how some of the rooms looked and how the cave looked at the end of the fight. He hadn't seen Hadrian looking as Triton so he had no definitive proof, but he knew the truth.

There hadn't been an elemental who walked the earth in almost 150 years. He wasn't even alive to witness the previous one, but he knew that the actions of the last two elementals had left a darkening shade over how people viewed elementals. Both were fire elementals. One born in the UK and the other in the States. The one in the UK had been born during the early stages of the witch hunting era and had been targeted a few times. The time of witch hunts grew fewer and fewer until they were almost nonexistent. It wasn't until a few years after the witch hunts had died down when a local had seen him manipulating the fire to entertain his young son. The local gathered up some of the townspeople and marched on the home of the elemental. The raid ended with the elemental getting away, but his wife and son perishing. This threw him into a frenzy. He swore to get revenge on the muggles who took his family away from him. His next actions caused the great fire of London. He continued burning the city for two days, whether the area was magical or not. The ministry made the decision to step in and put him down. It took them a day to track and terminate the elemental. It took them another day and a half to put out the fires that were still raging across the city.

The most recent elemental had been a native born in the States in the 1800's. The background on this man only started when the settlers had reached his tribe, which was in the western region of today's United States. His village was a small one and had been wiped out while him and a few others were out on a hunting trip. He was well into his 70's when this happened. He had decided to go and try to take down as many of the white men as he could before being brought down himself. He went to Chicago, one of the centers of trade, before starting the largest fire he possibly could. However, the ministry in the States wasn't as well formed and their army relied more on state militia as their protection. Add to the fact that they had just gotten done with their civil war and the men who went to stop the elemental were straight out of combat and were more efficient in the way to track him down. The American's had retaliated swiftly and with extreme prejudice. It was unknown what happened to the elemental following the battle. The complete story was unknown to anyone except those who had been there. All Dumbledore knew was that he couldn't have somebody with those types of destructive capabilities on the loose. If he were to be allowed to roam free without being taught the right path, then the world could face true devastation. There was a reason the elementals were feared.

It was with that thought in mind that Dumbledore pulled out a flask and his wand. He swirled his wand a few times and directed something into the flask. Even though it looked as though nothing had entered the flask, Dumbledore left with a small smile, knowing that he would show this man the right path.

It took two more days for Hadrian to be given the all clear by the matron. It was midday and he was putting on his robes when he heard the doors creak open. He looked over to the doors and saw Dumbledore followed closely with the people he shared blood relation with. Lily was standing awkwardly towards the back with an oddly hopeful face the also held the nervousness that she was trying to bury. James looked like he had been talked down from going in and going on a rant at Hadrian while Thomas was now looking at him with a look of loathing in his eyes. Lily looked like she had just gathered the courage to speak and was about to open her mouth when the doors swung open again, this time admitting someone Hadrian didn't think would be coming.

The group that had come to see Hadrian turned to see a lone figure walking into the ward. James' posture turned ridged, as did his voice when it came out. "Sirius." He said stiffly. "What are you doing here?" he asked the head of the Ancient and Noble house. Sirius just looked at him with annoyance. "That's a stupid question. I came here to visit my godson. I found out from Moony who thought you would have at least had the decency to tell me that he had been found and that he was injured." Black ranted at James.

James' eyes narrowed. I have no obligation to do that. Not after all of the things you said. If you would just turn around and go you can leave this to his actual family." The Potter patriarch replied. Sirius' face was contorting in anger. "Like hell you don't have an obligation to tell me. We might not be on speaking terms anymore but I am still this boy's godfather. I reserve the right to know when he has been found after missing for years. Maybe your lack of awareness is what caused this whole mess in the first place." Sirius fired at James.

By this time, James was starting to have his anger break through his restraints that he had set up for the meeting. He had prepared for being mocked by Harry during the meeting by some, in his mind, undeserved criticism. He hadn't prepared for his once best friend to come through the doors and give him a dressing down when they first arrived and it was starting to show on his face.

"Enough." Dumbledore shouted at the two of them. He was getting tired of the constant bickering of children. Why couldn't people just listen to him. "We are not here to cause any more rifts between us. We are here so that young Mister Potter might reconnect with his family. Sirius, if you are going to cause a scene then I must insist that you leave." Dumbledore commented, his voice returning to its normally calm tone. Sirius gave a longing look towards Hadrian before reluctantly turning back towards the door.

This was when Hadrian decided to step in. "No. Everyone else out. I want to speak to Sirius alone." He told the group who had walked in first. lily looked like she wanted to protest but didn't have the heart, so Dumbledore stepped in for her. "I don't see why we can't all be here Harry. Anything you can say to him can be said with all of us. I'm sure your parents want to know what you were doing just as much as Sirius does." Dumbledore said, trying to have a reason to stay. Black had been on rocky footing with both the Potters and Dumbledore ever since Harry had disappeared. He knew he wouldn't be able to get Sirius to give him any insight if it was just the two of them.

Hadrian just looked at Dumbledore with annoyance. "The reason Sirius is staying is because he was the last one who still came and checked on me, so he gets a reward for at least remembering to do things for me for a few years longer before he faded away as well." Hadrian stated. Dumbledore's fishing was starting to get on his nerves. Hadrian looked back at Sirius and saw that the man had a slightly confused look upon his face. From what, Hadrian couldn't tell. Dumbledore began to turn towards the door with the rest of the Potter clan when he heard a throat being cleared behind him. When he turned back around, he was met with the sight of the youngest Potter looking at him with his arm extended and his hand open and palm facing upwards.

"I believe you said I could have my wand back when I was cleared. That time is now." Hadrian stated. Dumbledore slowly reached into his pocket and withdrew the intricately made wand and handed it over with barely shown reluctance. He hadn't found which wand maker that wand was from and Ollivander hadn't had the time to come and look at it himself. He was sure if the old Wand Crafter had been able to come take a look at it then there were some more pieces to the puzzle that Dumbledore would be able to decipher. Yet, the opportunity was lost.

Hadrian took his wand back quickly, not giving Dumbledore the chance to play any of his games. He then watched as all the visitors minus one exited the room. Just after the doors shut, Hadrian fired a looking charm at them as well as putting up some privacy wards around the area that they were situated. He then looked at Sirius who gave off the impression that he was excitedly nervous. Not knowing how he would be received after the explanation for why he got to talk to Hadrian was given. It took about half a minute before the animagus gathered the courage to talk to the younger occupant. He looked at his shoes and then to Hadrian's eyes before saying anything.

"Harry…" he was interrupted by Hadrian holding up his hand and shaking his head. "Stop using that name." Hadrian told him. "It's a nickname made by people I don't like and used frequently by them. Call me by my name." he told his godfather. Sirius gave a sigh of relief. He had thought Harry, no, Hadrian was going to lay into him. At least it was something that was easily changed. It was going to take a little time though. "Sure Hadrian. Forgive me if I slip up. I just haven't thought of you by anything other than Harry for 14 years and it might take a little time to adjust." He told the raven-haired teen. Hadrian accepted that with a nod. He knew that changing something ingrained into one's mind over years of learning was not going to be suddenly changed within moments. Just how he knew his brother was almost always going to be an arsehole. There wasn't much anyone was going to do about it and his father would never try and hurt the feeling of his precious boy.

Sirius just took that as a positive and continued on in his attempt at reconnecting a lost bond. He was still confused about one thing. "I still don't get what you mean when you said I faded away. I tried to be there as much as possible, taking you to do things that would leave you with happy memories. I don't remember any time that I gave up on trying to do that." Sirius gave with a curious inflection in his voice. He waited patiently for an answer, though he didn't have to wait long.

"My birthday. The one right before I disappeared. You always made it a point to show up on my birthday no matter what. It was the one day that you would never miss and never schedule on. It was the one day a year that was confirmation that at least someone was looking out for me and cared. However, for the couple months leading up to it as well as the day itself you were nowhere to be found." Hadrian stated with sincerity. It was one of the things that stopped him from constantly trying to get his parents to look at him. He had found someone else that he could show. However, he had never shown Sirius any of the magic that he had practiced. He had held onto the fantasy that his parents would finally look at him if he could show them some impressive magic. He had never gotten the chance.

Sirius gained a look of understanding as Hadrian gave his explanation. "While I admit it hadn't made as much of an appearance before your birthday as I usually had, I had planned something special for your birthday. It got delayed because I had been on a auror raid that went south. We were pinned in a firefight for a day and a half, starting the eve before your birthday. When I got back was when I discovered you missing and was also the day that the bond between me and James started to wither and die. They hadn't noticed your disappearance by the time I got back. It took me hours to figure out that you weren't there. By the time any of the aurors were called, you were long gone. It wasn't helped by the fact that your parents didn't have any idea where you might have been taken from in the first place. I am sorry that I wasn't able to make your birthday though. If there is anything I can do to make it up to you, just name it." Sirius explained.

Hadrian just looked at Sirius' face during his explanation. He was looking for any of the signs of deceit that he could find. He was coming up empty on that front. The only thing he could find were looks of sorrow and regret. It meant he was most likely telling the truth. Sirius might have learned to mask his emotions and put on fake ones, however he highly doubted that. He was always worn his heart on his sleeve and it didn't seem like much had changed in that aspect over the years. Hadrian just gave a sigh. It looked like one of the people he had been holding a grudge towards over the past few years had been undeserving of it. He thought about the last part of the statement.

"I want to get out of here. Dumbledore is going to try some bullshit to try and get me to stay and I have no use for waterworks, angry outbursts, and arrogant morons. Do you have something like that?" he asked the man to see if he could start to build the bridge that had been slightly damaged over the years.

A grin grew on Sirius' face. Hadrian took that to mean he had a way. "I have a way out but we have to get there. I hope you can levitate me without dropping me. I don't want to be the one in the bed." He joked. Hadrian cracked a smile for him. It was better than trying to not humor him. That was for another time. Sirius led him to one of the windows and unlocked it before steeping out on the sill. "Now I need you to lift me to the third floor." He told Hadrian. Hadrian pointed his wand at Sirius and cast the spell. The favor was returned once Sirius had reached the third-floor ledge. The feeling of weightlessness overtook Hadrian as he was brought two stories into the air. He was placed gently on the sill as Sirius unlocked the window and hopped into the hallway. He motioned for Hadrian to follow him. Hadrian, on the other hand, was wondering how this was going to get them out. They soon arrived at a statue to which Sirius mumbled a word at before it opened up to reveal a passage way.

When they passed through it, they came out in a storage area filled with boxes. Sirius held his finger over his mouth and crept out the door with Hadrian following behind him. They came out into a sweets store. He looked over at Sirius. "Where are we?" he asked of him. "Honeydukes. Sirius replied and kept walking. Hadrian had heard of the store. His father would sometimes pick up some sweets for Thomas from here. He put that out of mind as he followed Sirius out of the small store and into the road outside. "Where are we going?" he queried. Sirius just tuned to him and held out his hand. "To my house. It might be a little dreary but it's well hidden as well as protected." Sirius told him. Hadrian looked at the hand. For once in his recent life, he decided to trust someone and took Sirius' hand and they vanished in a whirl.

Dumbledore was getting impatient. What could they be talking about that took over an hour? He had tried to put some listening charms on the door so that it would pick up what was being said on the other side of it to no avail. One of them must have put up privacy wards around them. Dumbledore reached for the door knob and tried to turn it with no success. He tried an _alohomora._ That failed as well. He put some focus into unraveling the spell that was placed around the door. It took about twenty second before the door gave a slight _click_ , signifying that it was unlocked. Dumbledore pushed open the doors, expecting to find two people chatting, or at the very least one talking and the other either not listening or giving smart ass remarks. What he found was an empty hospital wing and no sign to the wayward Potter child. He could only look at the window in annoyance. 'what are you playing at?' he thought towards both Sirius and Harry.


	8. Discovery

**Disclaimer: obviously, I only own the idea of my story and not that of the original author of this series.**

 _'French thoughts'_

 _"French speech"_

'English thoughts'

"English speech"

This method is reversed in flashbacks

Not even going to try putting French accents into the English portions

Chapter 8: Discovery

Hadrian landed on his feet after Sirius side along apparated them to his home. The landed in the entrance hall with a loud _crack_ echoing through the air. Hadrian felt his stomach doing somersaults. 'Sirius might know how to apparate himself but he can't apparate other people comfortably for shit." Hadrian thought. He waited for his stomach to calm down before turning to look at Sirius.

"Your side-along-apparition needs some work." He muttered out. Sirius just stood there looking amused. It seemed like he was enjoying Hadrian struggling. "Or, maybe you just don't have the stomach for it." He joked, his playful nature starting to show through his nervousness. Hadrian just gave him a glare. "Fine, fine. Be that way. I'm just a lonely godfather trying to make it up to his godson who he hasn't seen in years. Oh, woe is me. My godson is hating everything I do even after making a daring escape for him. What shall I ever do now." Sirius wailed on in a voice of fake sadness.

Hadrian couldn't help but crack a small smile. It was this side of Sirius that he missed. The one that would always be there to cheer him up when his parents were too busy with Thomas. The one who would show up to take him to events that he wanted to go to. The one who made his life at Potter mansion much more bearable. Sirius took a break from his mock pity party when a look of remembrance took over his face. He then turned towards the inside of the house. "And before I forget." He muttered to himself before calling out in a loud voice. "Kreacher." Sirius' voice echoed through the halls. The fading echo of Sirius' voice was followed by the sharp crack of apparition followed by the appearance of a house elf who looked like he didn't keep good care of himself.

"The blood traitor calls Kreacher? He never calls upon Kreacher. What could mistress' wayward son want with the house elf loyal to House Black?" he said this with his eyes downcast but loud enough for them to catch it. The words were said as if the two were not in the room. Kreacher's eyes came up and caught sight of Hadrian before his face morphed into a sneer. "Pitiful master bringing more blood traitors into this great house. Mistress would be so ashamed." He wailed, shaking his head in his hands. "At the very least it isn't one of master's whores that he brings in." he said spitefully.

Sirius' face had gone from annoyance to angry as the elf's tirade continued. When his voice came out, it was in a tone close to a shout. "Enough!" he directed the sentence at Kreacher. Kreacher's mouth closed, but the angry look in his eyes stayed. Sirius took a few deep breaths to calm down. "Kreacher, this is Harr-Hadrian. You will listen to him as if he was me. He is of Black blood from his paternal grandmother, so the issue of you listening to one not of Black blood shouldn't be an argument from you." Sirius told Kreacher in a commanding tone. Kreacher just looked speculatively at the new person he had to take orders from, as if trying to assess whether he would be someone that he could tolerate.

On the other hand, Hadrian watched this all play out in amusement. He had seen a few house elves, either from the times he broke into homes or the times that he had been summoned and hired by people. Most of the elves lived in constant fear of receiving either punishments or clothes for any wrongdoings. This was the first elf that Hadrian had seen that had the balls to say anything negative to his master. It would be interesting to see how the elf reacted to him.

"You can go now, Kreacher." Sirius told the elf. The elf just disapparated with a loud crack. Sirius turned back to Hadrian. "Sorry about that. He's been a little bugger ever since I was a child. Never could get him to do all the things I wanted him to do." He told Hadrian. Hadrian just looked back at Sirius with a confused look on his face. "If he's so disobedient, why keep him around. It seems like it would just be easier to go out and get a new one." Hadrian asked Sirius.

Sirius' face grew solemn before he answered. "For all the faults that Regulus had, he was still my younger brother. He didn't have too many personal items that he left behind and he was always the one closest to Kreacher. I guess Kreacher just reminds me of when my family was whole. I might not like the family I was born into, but it wasn't the whole family that caused me to leave. Regulus was still a good kid despite going into Slytherin. We might have had our ideological differences, but we still grew up together. However much he annoys me, Kreacher still reminds me of when Regulus walked among the living. Plus, my mother would be more of a pain in my arse if her precious minion wasn't mounted upon the wall." His face suddenly grew sheepish. "Also, going shopping for a new elf is such a paaaaiiiiin" he whined.

Hadrian could understand the sentiment of longing. However much he had disliked his mother and father for ignoring him at home, Potter manor itself had been a safe haven where he had first learned magic and had grown up. In the earlier years after he was kidnapped he would long for some of the comforts of his home, whether they were some of the few toys he had or one of his specific blankets. He just gave a nod of understanding towards Sirius and was graced with a small smile in return.

Sirius then turned towards the inside of the house and started to move through the hall. "Let's get situated, shall we?" he said back to Hadrian. Hadrian just gave a grunt of approval. Sirius suddenly stopped and turned. Hadrian stopped a few inches behind him. "Did we forget to grab your clothes from Hogwarts?" Sirius asked him. Hadrian shook his head. "I have it all in a trunk on my person. I'm fine. Where's my room?" he asked. Sirius just gave a slight sigh of relief that he hadn't separated Hadrian from anything that was potentially something memorable to him. Sirius turned back into the house.

"Upstairs one flight. You can pick any of the rooms that you want. It's not like any of them get used any…" he was cut off by a sudden yelling. "Filthy blood traitor, bringing unwanted guests into this house. Begone you waste of space. Ruin the name of House Black no longer." A voice screamed before a _bang_ and a shower of sparks stopped the rant. "Well, now you have met my mother. Wonderful person if I do say so myself. She was the main driving reason that I left for your father's house during my sixth summer. Can't seem to get the blasted thing off of the wall though. Has too many charms and runes for me to decipher.

This intrigued Hadrian. Sirius was a competent wizard, what with being one of the top aurors in Britain. He did, however, specialize in dueling and breaching buildings. He wasn't one of the men tearing down the wards so that they could get a crack at the targeted place. Hadrian took a step towards the picture and started to focus on the magic that surrounded the portrait. He got a variety of readings from the house, as it exuded magic. It was just like Potter manor in that regard. Hadrian kept looking past that and singled out the protections on the painting. He could decipher some of the intentions of the spells and some of the spells themselves, but some still eluded him. What interested him the most was that the protections upon the painting were tied into the houses own wards. That meant any attempt at trying to overpower them would result in the property wards turning against you. And in the case of the Blacks, the wards defending their home were not something that you wanted to test without serious precaution.

Sirius just watched curiously as Hadrian walked closer to his mother's portrait and closed his eyes. He could feel some magic brush over his, but couldn't determine the purpose of what it was for. He had been taught to sense for magic so that he wouldn't accidentally grab a cursed object, however he never learned how to feel intentions of the caster. That was for the people who came to clean up the scenes. He could feel Hadrian's magic in a general radius around the boy before it focused like a spear and started to tentatively prod the portrait's protections. Sirius was fairly impressed with the level of magical control that Hadrian was displaying. It took some adults many years to get to the level that Hadrian was at, and he was now doing it with what seemed like relative ease.

It took a couple of minutes for Hadrian to finish his inspection of the protections. He finished and retreated his senses from the portrait's before turning around to find Sirius looking at him with a proud look on his face. Sirius just continued to give him a smile. "That was something that most people in the Auror's office have difficulty with. Extending your magic beyond one's self is where people start to lose control. Where did you learn it?" Sirius asked.

For Hadrian, it felt good to have someone complimenting his skill. When he was with the Misfits, he was known as the best in the group and everything he could do was sort of undercut by the fact that he was expected to know how to do that stuff even if it was a difficult ability for him to master. "I learnt it out of necessity. If I couldn't sense magic then that meant I would be screwed. It was either adapt or perish. I chose to adapt." He told Sirius. Sirius just had a frown on his face. There were few jobs that needed that skill and none of them were fit for children to be a part of. He hadn't been able to find any sort of clue that pointed to where his godson had been taken. All he knew when he went to go see Hadrian was that he was injured and Remus had found him within a cave full of werewolves that had been killed by said kid. There were even fewer jobs that would have the skills to take down those werewolves. He was starting to put together the pieces of what his godson had gone through.

Hadrian could see the frown upon Sirius' face, but couldn't discern the exact reason just from his facial features alone. He was about to ask what was wrong before Sirius cut in. "I'm sorry." He said. "I'm sorry for not being there for you. You shouldn't have had to go through anything that you did." Sirius expressed with true regret. Hadrian shook his head at Sirius. "No, you did your best. I wasn't your kid, yet you dedicated huge amounts of time to me and wanted nothing in return. Besides, if everything had been perfect I wouldn't be the wizard I am today." He stated.

Sirius looked like he wanted to argue but decided that it would get them nowhere. "Why don't you go and get settled in." he said gently. "We can discuss this at a later date. For now, you should get some rest away from the matron with horrible potions. I can still remember when I had to take some during my school days." He said as a shudder ran down his spine. Those potions were nasty. You'd think with magic that they could at least make the things bearable. "I'll hold off Dumbles and the Potters until you are ready to deal with them. The wards should keep them out even if they wanted to come in." he told Hadrian.

Hadrian just nodded and went to explore the house. He would pick a room later. He had no reason to go put his stuff in his room when everything was in his trunk. He wandered the halls and came upon a room with a large tree made upon the wall that held a few burn marks over what Hadrian presumed to be pictures of people.

"I haven't been in this room in a long time. All it reminds me of is how much my mother wanted me gone from the family. I think it was one desires to blow a hole through my picture. I guess she got her wish." He said as he traced his finger over a burnt-out section of the wall. "I guess she got her wish. However much she wanted me gone from the family, my father never cast me out. That means with me as the sole surviving Black from the main family, I am now Lord Black. I use my influence to push for legislation that oppose what my family had traditionally supported. I hope my mother is rolling in her grave right now. I know for sure her portrait isn't happy about it." He said with a bit of smugness in his tone.

"This is the Black family tapestry. It's centuries old but self-updates. You can see yourself in one of the branches off to the far side." Sirius said, pointing to one of the outlying branches. True to his words, Hadrian found his name. Sirius also peered over to where his name was. "Huh, that's interesting. I haven't seen that name in use while I have been alive." He said as they both looked at the name Hadrian Peverell emblazoned upon the wallpaper. He then turned towards Hadrian. "Anything you want to tell me Hadrian?" he said in a sly voice.

Hadrian shrugged. There wasn't much more to know than the fact that he was the Peverell lord. It didn't hold as much political sway as it used to. Back when the house was more known, people knew the Lord Peverell as someone who had earned it by the family magics picking the worthiest candidate. However, after two generations of the magics not picking a lord from the Potter family to ascend to the place as Lord Peverell, the practice of going to test yourself for the lordship had been forgotten. This had caused the Peverell name to disappear from society for the past couple centuries. This fact just meant that no one alive could remember the strength and influence that the Peverell lord carried with him. Memories fade over time and now all that were left were stories in journals or history textbooks that had mentions of the Ancient and Noble family.

Sirius just looked at him with an appraising look. "I would _very_ much like to hear how you ended up in this position." Sirius said in an intrigued voice. Hadrian was thinking of a way to start his story when he heard a fire roar to life and could hear a voice that he could place and James Potter's. "Sirius. I know that you are here. I need to talk to you." His voice echoed throughout the house. Sirius just turned to Hadrian. "Maybe next time. You just relax and don't worry about him. I will deal with him. Just try to entertain yourself." He said before he strode out of the room and headed towards the source of the voice.

Hadrian looked around the room and could find nothing else of interest. He continued on through the house and could hear the voices of James and Sirius fading away the deeper he went into the house. At the end of the hallway, he found a door. Hanging upon the door was plaque. All that was upon it was a carving of a book. He grabbed the nob and turned it to allow him entrance into a room that held shelves of books. He looked upon the rows of books, trying to find a title on the spines that would spike his interest. He kept his magic on alert. He remembered when Sirius sometimes brought him here when he was younger. He wasn't allowed to wander around unsupervised in this room for fear of him finding a cursed book upon the shelves.

It was as he was nearing the back of the room that he felt a source of magic that was much stronger than any ordinary cursed object could be. He followed it to the source. What he found was an old tome sitting upon the shelves. It looked inconspicuous. Just a history book among others, though it sung out with magic. He reached out his magic to try to discern the magic placed upon the book. The feelings he received back were of protection and secrecy. Nothing that would denote that it would immediately attack if activated. He reached out to touch the book and pushed a minute amount of magic through it. With nary a squeak, the bookshelf in front of him started to sink into the ground without leaving a trace that it was once there.

It revealed a back room that was filled with books. These books ranged from looking newer to centuries old. There were books that looked like they had been published by a manufacturer while others looked handwritten. He felt out with his magic again. The Blacks were never ones to leave anything valuable unprotected. This time when he reached out. He could feel the intent of the wards. Protection, family, danger, power, were the overwhelming sensations he was getting from the ward. He could feel small connection from the ward to himself. Blood wards were something of an anomaly with wards. Almost all wards worked by sending constant waves of magic over the surface area of the sphere from the top and bottom of the sphere. Blood wards worked differently. They worked like a membrane. Only accepting those that met the requirements of the ward. It was the reason the Ministry banned them. They were almost impossible to get past without completely overpowering the ward, and since they were usually used on manors by older families, the amount of magic needed to break the wards was nothing short of substantial. Most families took the blood wards off of their entire property when they were banned and chose to place them on smaller areas of the property that they wanted to remain protected.

Hadrian took a small breath. He knew he had Black blood and he was pretty sure that would gain him entry. He doubted that the wards would harm one of their own, even if they wouldn't let him in. The only scenario that he could think of with him not being able to get in would be if the room was meant for the head of house only. He released the breath. There was no time like the present and stepped through the ward. he felt it wash over him, looking for what it was created to before he felt it recede and grant him entry. Hadrian let out a small smile. It was a few seconds later that he heard a slight shifting. He turned to see the bookcase rising back into place. He turned back towards the room. This would be a good chance to see if the Black family had anything that would be useful for him. It was rare that one was allowed within another's family library. He continued his search for any title that would catch his interest. It seemed much more likely that something in this room would be the one to snag it.

He was on the second shelf of the first case that he came upon the section of Black journals and books. One in particular had the title _Recordings of Magics and Magiks._ He pulled it out and took it to the table within the room. He sat down and held the book within his hands. It was fairly thin, looking to be around 100 pages or less. He opened it and started to quickly flip through it. However, the pages kept coming. He stopped flipping through the pages and went back to the beginning. He found the table of contents and looked through what was in the book. He looked towards the back of the table of contents and found a series of dots. The final topic before the dots showed that the book extended for about 4000 pages. It automatically alphabetized the topics once they were written about in the final page of the book, which was always blank, waiting for the next entry.

He turned to the index page that just said magic. He put his finger upon the word and put trace amounts of magic into the book and watched as it flipped numerous pages before stopping at an entry. It read

 _Rules of Magic_

 _By Auriga Black 604 AD_

 _Magic in itself is difficult to explain. It is a force beyond the grasp of most. Even those of us who are able to use it to bend reality are not sure what caused it for us. We use it to bend reality, but it holds rules. How could something that bends reality be limited by such minor things. Not being able to create food, but we can multiply it. Many have pondered upon why this is. I have reached a conclusion upon trying out the various things that magic allows us to do. There is one simple reason that we are not able to create food. All food that we consume is life at one point. The meat that we eat was once an animal and the bread that we have for meals had to grow from the ground before it could be prepared._

 _Magic might allow for extensions or reversals for the river of life and death, however one is not able to skip one process to the next. It is why conjurations never truly have minds of their own. They are created with the will of their casters. Even though people good enough at conjuration or transfiguration can create perfect facsimiles to life, they cannot create the process of thought and instinct, as it is something that has been created through years of evolution and the specific circumstances that one is raised in. Humans can't create the instinct for how a lion stalks its prey for we have instinct of our own for that situation._

 _I have found there are no actual magical laws about conjuring metal. It is just that pure metals do not hold magic and therefore would not be able to hold the magic that would conjure it. It is why wands are made from wood. Metals would reject the magic the is being pushed through them. It is what makes the weapons and armor from the goblins so valuable and difficult to replicate. Their process of creating steel somehow keeps magic within the blade without being rejected. Wizards have tried for centuries with no success to replicate their process and I feel like we will never find the answer. The rules of magic will continue to be explored as advances continue. I am hoping that my family will be able to expand my understanding of this force we wield._

There were some explanations that tried to continue the Auriga's research, but none were as thorough as his explanations were. He slowly flipped through the pages so that he could get to the next topic. It was written by the same man.

 _What is Magik?_

 _By Auriga Black 612 AD_

 _The study upon the laws of magic has brought me to the next topic, magik. Magik is use of magic that is not one's own power or the power of another person or creature. The most common use of magik is through manifestations called leylines. They run across the globe in crisscrossing patterns. The addition of one leyline to a grouping increases the power output of that spot exponentially. The use of leylines can be found throughout the ages. The creation of the pyramids is one example. Stonehenge was created on the area where the leylines intersected and was used as a ritual site. Even the ancient Greeks created their gods' temples above leylines. The power surging through these leylines caused the miracles within the temples that are talked about._

 _In current years, leylines have been used by families that want to create strong wards for their homes. They leylines power the wards, divesting the families of the needs to power the wards themselves._

 _Creation of things are not the only things magik is used for. Wizards use the leylines to draw magic out of the earth for battles or for greater magic than a man is capable of creating. In times of war, strong wizards with a connection to magic were highly coveted for the fact that they could draw magic from leylines to use in massive attacks against enemy armies. There was a downside to using magik in situations like these. For one, it was impossible to perfectly direct attacks and could often cause large amounts of collateral damage. There is also the inability to contain the magic coming from the leylines. This would either cause the magik used to backfire or the wizard to be completely consumed by the amount of energy that was running through their body. It was this disaster that caused the sinking of Atlantis. They had attempted to create strong illusionary and compulsion wards to keep others away from their society. However, contrary to the popular belief of it sinking, it was completely destroyed. The magic drawn upon by multiple wizards overrode them and was unleashed upon the island once they were not alive to contain and direct it._

 _Magik is best used in small doses or as the power source of wards. The wards feed on the current of energy that flows through the lines instead of trying to contain or redirect it. To control leylines requires large amounts of one's own magical power and a remarkable amount of control._

Hadrian finished reading the journal entry. He had heard about leylines, but had never heard specifics like he had seen in the entry. The possibilities that the use of leylines opened were near limitless, as were the dangers that accompanied it. He would have to research more possibilities at a later date. He then flipped back to the table of contents and looked for a topic that he had very little information on. It took a minute before he found the one word that he was looking for. _Elementals._ He let himself be taken to the page.

 _Elementals_

 _By Eridanus Black 1174 AD_

 _Elementals are perhaps one of the strongest gifts that magic has blessed wizards and witches with. They pop up between the pages of history books, never two at a time. They contain near unrivaled power and found themselves as rulers or brought into the fold of those in power. Poseidon was one of the first recorded elementals. Aided by a powerful necromancer, as well as a wizard who had learned to fly and was a bit antsy with lighting spells, they took positions as gods. They collected the strongest wizards of their time to join them in 'godhood'. While the man who became known as Zeus was declared the leader, it was known that Poseidon was the one who was the strongest and was the one who kept the 'gods' in line. In the Egyptian empire, there was an earth elemental who created the pyramids. The next one who made a large splash was another earth elemental within the Roman empire who created many of the roads along with their aquifers and coliseum._

 _Instances across history show elementals being one of the most coveted power in the world. Holding the elemental of the time meant that you had a huge advantage over the opposition. A water elemental held the power over the seas. An example would be Moses, who parted the red sea. They were the one-man armies that were nigh unstoppable in those times. However, as time went on, wizards became more institutionalized. They created schools where they could learn magic which helped them to be able to stop the elementals instead of relying on raw magic which caused them to tire quickly. The school that opened within Britain a couple centuries ago was Hogwarts. It was used as a safe haven where children could be taken to learn how to control their gifts._

 _The persecution of magic followed the complete fall of the Roman empire. The final emperor had a fire elemental as his personal attack dog. His men had found the child early on and had trained him to be ruthless to their enemies. He was turned into a sadistic man that enjoyed seeing the pain of other people. His desire to hurt people was overwhelming. He was known as the Fiend. The emperor tried to keep him on a tighter leash, but fire has a way spreading out of your control. He had a wizard teach him how to control the magic that traveled through the leylines. He returned to the capital and called upon a leyline's to bolster his elemental abilities. His initial attack was overwhelming and destroyed all opposition, including the emperor. However, he was not strong enough to stop the flow of magic from the leyline and was completely consumed by the magic in the middle of an inferno of his making. This had an unforeseen consequence. The magic destroyed his body, but his will over the flames remained. The hatred, anger, and desire to cause destruction was now trapped within the flames. It became what is now known as fiendfyre. It is the reason fiendfyre can't be created, only summoned. It is also the reason it is so hard to control. The user has to overpower the will of the elemental to end the fyre. It is also why many wizards who summon it merely direct the aggression at another target._

 _One overall fact rings true throughout the ages. The older the elemental, the more in tune and powerful the elemental becomes. It is believed that when one dies of old age, they become part of the environment they died in._

 _The most recent elemental to live was one of the founders of Hogwarts. An air elemental found in Rowena Ravenclaw. Instead of using her power to be in a ruling position, she used her knowledge and powers to create protections for children. Few know what ultimately happened to the founders. Salazar and Godric both left after a dispute on how to handle the intake of students and Helga passed after almost a century of helping her students. Rowena disappeared about three decades after the school opened._

 _Elementals continue to shift the power balance of the world. If any of my descendants are ever to meet one, join or run. Standing in the way of a fully-grown elemental is a way to ask death to come early. Do not choose the wrong side of history._

The entry ended with that piece of wisdom. Hadrian gave a yawn. He cast a tempus charm and found it to be half past nine. He could hear his stomach grumbling. He hadn't been able to eat anything since the morning and he was starting to feel the effects. With the thought of food in mind, he exited the hidden portion of the library and headed towards the kitchen. When he finally got to bed, his mind was still mulling over the information he had discovered today.


	9. A Piece of the Puzzle

**Disclaimer: obviously, I only own the idea of my story and not that of the original author of this series.**

 _'French thoughts'_

 _"French speech"_

'English thoughts'

"English speech"

This method is reversed in flashbacks

Not even going to try putting French accents into the English portions

Chapter 9: A Piece of the Puzzle

The weeks started to role by. Whenever Sirius had a need or a want to see Hadrian, he would find him in the library or in his room with a book. Sirius thought that Hadrian was trying to devour the entire Black library. Though, however much Hadrian was diving into the newly available knowledge, he always tried to leave at least an hour a day that he was available if Sirius decided he wanted to do anything together. It was nice to not have to hide himself from people around himself.

The topics that he was delving into were either of the more arcane and obscure writings, or more spells for him to try and replicate. He had scoured the library for any mention of elementals. He had found other articles on elementals, but all of them were just detailing some of the achievements that some had accomplished. None of them gave any indications of how to better control the power that he contained. Most of the stories of the various elementals showed that they were found at young ages and trained by whatever empire had found them, or they were hunted down before they could grow if the strongest empire was not able to have them under their thumb.

He had read about a few magik spells. All of them were heavily prepped and ended with warnings about the potential for self-destruction and loss of control. He had read through the basics of how to control magik spells. One of the best examples he got was to think of the leylines as rivers. You had to create a small outlet for some of the magic to get out. Then you had to let the magic flow at a consistent rate. Any large deviation in amounts would cause the magic trying to force itself to go out the newly created path.

He knew he would need a proper teacher in this topic if he ever wanted to actually cast those types of spells. This meant that he would be halting his learning of the subject for the time being. This meant that he was now found with a book on dark curses. He was trying to figure out what the spells did and how to replicate the effects, along with countering the curses. Since he didn't actually use specific wand movements and words, he was focusing on the desired effect he wanted his magic to have. This had the effect of him needing to truly understand what his magic would do with to the target if he wanted it to work properly. If he cast a blood freezing spell, did he want the spot hit to drop in temperature as rapidly as possible and stay in the place where the spell hit, or did he want to slow down the action of the spell and have it spread throughout the victim's body.

Spells that were of the sort to spread across a body required much more power than spells that had an immediate result on the impacted spot. This was because the magic of the spell had to constantly fight against the users own magic to continue to spread. It was why those types of curses were rarely used at high level duels. People who had the ability to manipulate the magic within their own bodies to a high degree could force slow working, foreign magic out of their system before it could truly do any damage.

There were a few exceptions to this rule. One being the curses placed upon objects. These could be loaded with more power than what could be put into a spell in the middle of a duel. Also, placing a spell in an object meant that you could make modifications to the spell. One of the deadliest modifications was changing the curse to be parasitic, using the afflicted user's magic to fuel the spell. Once it got into the user's system, it is nearly impossible to remove. It was what made cursed objects have such potential for danger.

A shout of "Hadrian" could be heard throughout the first few floors of the house. Hadrian checked the time to see that it was near when they usually had dinner. He snapped his book shut and headed towards the kitchen. When he arrived, he could see that Kreacher had made a beef stew with some bread. The elf hadn't been as obsessively rude with him as he had been with Sirius. Hadrian had stayed out of the little things way and hadn't asked anything of it besides meals. In return, Kreacher had kept to himself and didn't mutter insult about Hadrian at every opportunity.

Dinner was a silent affair. Sirius had never gotten fully comfortable with Hadrian. Their personalities were just too different. Sirius was carefree and optimistic paired with what some might call a womanizer attitude. On the other hand, Hadrian was cold, logical, thirsty for knowledge, and ruthless to anyone not close to him. It had been a cause for disconnect for the pair.

The silence was broken by a clearing of a throat. The elder of the two spoke. "I know today is a day that you used to hate. You told me it was the start of being forgotten. We used to go and do something to take your mind off of it. Is there anything that you want to do tonight?"

Hadrian shook his head. "No. I'm not a child anymore. I don't need anything to cheer me up from something I have gotten over. I don't wish for their approval anymore, therefore I have no need to be distracted. If anything, I try to treat today like another day. The only thing that I lost on this day was the ignorance a child continues to hold by the lies of perfection fed to him by his parents. A harsh lessen, but this is a cruel world. I would rather be prepared than to be blindsided when I first venture into it."

Sirius looked conflicted. The conflict resided in the fact that he wanted to tell Hadrian that he shouldn't be thinking like that, while also knowing that those thoughts were what made Hadrian himself. He decided that he didn't want to fight about something that would lead them nowhere. He then pushed back his chair and stood up. "So, you don't want to do anything tonight?". A shake of the head was the answer he got. "Then I will be heading over to the bar down the street. Who knows, I might get lucky tonight."

Hadrian gave a light shake of his head with a small smile creeping at the edges of his lips. His godfather might be the elder one of this pair, but he was not the most mature by far. He just gave a little shooing motion with the back of his hand. "Go, have your fun. At least one of us should have a good night."

Sirius' grin got a little wider. "Are you sure you don't want to come with me? You would be a great wingman. I would be the godfather having a hard time trying to take care of my godson who is at a disconnect with his family."

Hadrian's eyes did a dramatic role. Sirius had tried to get him to be his wingman multiple times previously. It was always an offer he declined. "Same as always. Both yourself and my answer. Besides, you don't need me. I've noticed the amount of nights that you haven't been home. Also, how do you think I would be getting in the bar?"

Sirius gave a sheepish look. "We could always use magic." he suggested. "It would be easy. Just a quick glamour and a confundous on the bartender so he doesn't need to I.D. you."

"My answer sustains. Go have fun. I'm not a child who needs to be looked after at every minute of the day." Hadrian told him while getting out of his chair and started his trek towards his room.

Sirius started walking to the front door. At about half way there, he shouted up the stairs that Hadrian had just ascended. "I'll get you to come one of these days. Maybe it will get you to open up.".

That was the second to last thing Hadrian heard. The final sound was of the door opening and shutting. The house became silent once again after that. Hadrian climbed onto his bed and sat himself in a comfortable position. He focused his attention inward and soon found himself in Atlantis within his mindscape. He went through his usual routine of organizing his day's memories. When he reached the unknown parasitic entity, he went through the arduous process of making sure that all of the restraints were holding. He repaired any of the restraints that needed repairing and headed back towards the doors of the city.

He reached the edge of the city and looked out towards depths of the ocean. He dove out off of the city into the water. Instead of heading back to the shore, he went deeper into the ocean. He continued for a minute before arriving at a large, glowing sphere at the bottom of the ocean. It was as blue as the oceans and thrummed with contained power, waiting for the command to be used. He went to his core much less often than he did than the other parts of his mindscape. There wasn't any necessity to come to it unless something was acting haywire with his magic.

None the less, it was an impressive sight. It looked like it held the power of a sun, constantly churning and broiling. He floated there, admiring its beauty. The only mar upon it being the link that tethered it to the parasitic entity currently housed in Atlantis. He stayed in the vicinity to bask in the feeling that his core gave of, the feeling of unlimited potential and future power. It was a few minutes of sitting there that he saw a blue link come and tether itself to his core. He frowned. He hadn't seen anything like this before. He reached his hand out to the tether and gave it a slight pull. Immediately he got the feelings of pins and needles running through his body. He let it go as if it had shocked him.

He moved away from the tether so that he could observe it from a distance. After half an hour of trying to find out what it was, the only thing he could determine was the feeling of the magic. _Power, ancient, and binding,_ was the feedback that he received. He was at a loss beyond that. He decided that he would pick it up in the morning.

He looked over at the clock it was only about 9:45, but he felt more tired than usual. He sent out his senses and couldn't feel Sirius' presence anywhere inside the house. Wishing his godfather good luck with his endeavors, he pulled the blanket over him and went to sleep.

When Hadrian opened his eyes, light hadn't even reached his window yet. He gave a large yawn coupled with him stretching out before slumping back against his pillows. He closed his eyes before rolling onto his side and tried to go back to the peaceful rest he had been in, but no matter how much he fluffed his pillow or put himself in a new position, he could fall back asleep. It was approximately fifteen minutes later that he gave up on his futile effort of returning to the realm of Morpheus. He did his morning rituals in a half-dazed state before quietly plodding down the stairs into the kitchen.

He arrived to find Kreacher getting out of an area beneath the sink. "Is this where you sleep, Kreacher?" he asked of the elf.

The elf gave a little jump of surprise at someone being awake at this hour. No one had come into the kitchen before 7:30 in this house in over a decade. He replied to the question given to him. "Yes, Master Hadrian. Kreacher sleeps there.".

Hadrian gave a cursory glance at the cupboard before refocusing upon the elf. "Would you like me to make an area in the house for you? The house certainly has room to spare."

"No no no. Kreacher no need anything. Kreacher likes his bed. Master Regulus visited here. Fond memories. Kreacher doesn't wish to leave them." the small being mumbled. "Will Master Hadrian be needing anything of Kreacher?"

"I could use some breakfast if it wouldn't be too much trouble."

The elf emphatically shook his head. "No trouble at all. Kreacher rarely gets to do anything with the nasty blood traitor being the only one here. He doesn't trust me. He brings shame upon the great house of Black." The elf started to go into one of his rants about Sirius' betrayal of the family. Hadrian had learned to just shrug them off. It was likely that Kreacher and Sirius would never see eye to eye.

Hadrian went and sat himself at the table to wait for Kreacher to make his meal. He didn't have to wait long as Kreacher came out with some eggs, bacon, and toast on a plate. Not the most high-quality food out there, but then again, Hadrian had always usually eaten the bare necessities for nutrition with his food. He was halfway through his breakfast when the post owl flew in and released the morning's paper before flying off. Hadrian never got why some people payed for the paper every day. It was much easier to buy a subscription. He grabbed the paper and flipped to today's headline. The moment he saw it the temperature in the room dropped a good 10 degrees.

Sirius bolted awake to the feeling of a magical pressure washing throughout the house. His grip tightened upon his wand, which was laying underneath his pillow. He slowly got out of bed and summoned some pants before creeping his way to the door. He sent a nonverbal silencing charm to the hinges on the door and cautiously opened it. Finding nothing immediately threatening in the hallway, he continued to the source of where he could feel the magical pressure being exuded. He made his way down the hall and flattened himself against the wall next to the door leading to the kitchen. Sirius pushed his magic lightly through his pathways so that it would flow better if a fight started. Giving himself a mental count to three, he flung open the door.

The sight that greeted him was not the one he had envisioned. He had thought there was a small possibility of an intruder, or perhaps Kreacher had tried to poison Hadrian's food. He hadn't thought to find Hadrian simply glaring at the Daily Prophet as if he wanted to murder the writing on the pages. Sirius slowly padded over to his godson and peered over his shoulder to see what had gotten him so worked up. He found the answer emblazoned upon the day's front page.

 _Tri-Wizard Tournament Turns into Penta-Wizard Tournament_

 _Yes, my dear readers. You read correctly. In the traditional ceremony for choosing champions, the goblet of fire gave us not only one extra competitor, but two. The first name to come out of the goblet was none other than our very own Thomas Potter. This caused many a student to become angry at our nation's hero, labeling him as a cheat and being favored by the Hogwarts Headmaster. The castle's atmosphere is still in turmoil from the happenings of last night._

 _The second name that came out was one that very few people had heard within the last few years. Hadrian Potter, younger twin of Thomas Potter, had his name spit out of the goblet. When the name was read off of the paper, it caused a large amount of confusion as many of the students had never even heard the youngest Potter's name before. Hadrian has been labeled as missing since he was nine years old. This caused large amount of speculation as to how and why his name came out of the goblet._

 _Some theories are that the parents put his name in the goblet as a way to force his return home so that they could be reunited. Another theory suggests that the boy himself snuck into Hogwarts and put his name in himself so that he could return to show up the family that he left behind years ago. Only time will tell what the truth is. But I, Rita Skeeter, will be there every step of the way to find the facts and deliver them to my dedicated readers._

 _More information on Thomas Potter: Page 3_

 _More information on the disappearance of Hadrian Potter: Page 4_

 _Information of past Tri-Wizard tournaments: Page 5_

Sirius set down the paper and looked up at Hadrian. The boy might have let him finish the article, but his temper and the magical pressure he was exuding hadn't gone down in the slightest.

Hadrian just looked at Sirius for a few seconds to see if he was going to speak before deciding to start the conversation himself. "This has Dumbledore's name written all over it. No one else has the balls and the knowledge of me. The only thing that has me confused is how he actually entered me. I know the contract is on me. I saw its tether to my magic last night. However, he couldn't have just put my name down, the goblet wouldn't have had a basis to evaluate me on and actually create a contract. The only way for that to happen is…." Hadrian trailed off.

Sirius felt the pressure in the room rise, as did the hairs on the back of his neck. He had been listening to Hadrian's thoughts and observations until it sounded like he had found his missing piece of the puzzle. "What way? How could Dumbledore have put you in this?"

Hadrian just looked pissed. "When Lupin brought me in for my injuries, I had a concussion. Because of that, my control over my magic slipped due to the fact that my mind was not in the right state. It caused my magic to continuously leak out in small amounts. In the case of wizards with control over their mind and magic, they can control their magic to stay within the body unless they cast spells. In the case of other wizards, it leaks out in small amounts. At acts like a fingerprint that fades over time. The amount of time is determined by how strong the wizard is and how saturated in magic the area around him is. I'm sure you at least know some of this from your auror days."

Sirius raised his hand towards Hadrian and gave it a side to side shake. "Kind of. I was more with the assault teams. We tended to create the crime scenes that needed inspecting rather than the actual inspection of the place. I know that we have certain specialists who can preserve signatures so that we could use it within a court case to match it with a suspect. I don't know any of the specifics of how to do it though."

Hadrian looked up quickly, mind in thought of how to explain it to Sirius. "It works like when muggle police officers take a fingerprint. If you are like me then it is almost as if you are always wearing gloves and only prolonged fights or extremely powerful magic would make me lose control. However, in my injured state, Dumbledore was able to get some of that escaping magic and put it into stasis where it could be used at a later date. It also explains how the goblet was able to create a contract. It had a sample of my magic and was probably set to have me assigned to some fake school that Dumbledore added. That is the only way that all the other champions would still be chosen."

Sirius had been nodding along with his godson's explanation. He could see the possibilities within Hadrian's explanation, but didn't see why Dumbledore would go through such lengths to get Hadrian to return. "Why would Dumbledore risk that? If he was ever found out it would be a PR nightmare, not to mention all of the fines and possible jailtime he would be facing. How could he think it was worth it?"

Hadrian gave a mental wince. He didn't like lying to Sirius. He was the one person from his old life who he trusted. Hadrian also knew that Sirius wasn't the most tight-lipped around women when he had a few drinks in him. Unlikely as it was that the women he was hitting on would be spies of Dumbledore or Voldemort, he wasn't going to give it the chance. He might decide to let Sirius in on it at a later date. "I don't know. Who knows how his brain works? Alzheimer might be a factor." he lightly joked. His face returned to seriousness. "But regardless of his intentions, I will show him that I am not someone who can be pushed around. It is better to set an example than to leave people to wonder. They always come up with the most absurd theories."

Hadrian pushed his chair back and started on his way to the door. Sirius' chair scraped along the floor as he pushed it back. He stood up as well to get in Hadrian's way. He filled up a good portion of the doorway so that Hadrian couldn't squeeze by and then closed the door before leaning against it. Hadrian just looked up at the head of the House of Black.

"Move, Sirius." He said in a low tone. He wasn't in the mood to deal with any of Sirius' shenanigans. Sirius seemed to set himself deeper into his position. Hadrian gave a sigh.

"I won't move, at least not until you have calmed down. You aren't in your right state of mind. You are tired and angry and going in halfcocked. If you go there you might do something to hurt your standing or turn the public opinion against you." Sirius stated with conviction.

Hadrian didn't want to listen to a lecture from someone right now. "The way to meet a hand that is trying to guide you against your will is to go and shatter the wrist, or at the very least make it back off from its attempts at pushing you towards its intended destination. I won't be pushed around and I will show people to not cross me. That includes you. I don't want to move you but I will if I have to."

Sirius just looked back with his face set into one of determination. "Then I guess you will have to move me." Sirius calmly gave back, calling Hadrian's bluff.

"So be it." Hadrian muttered. Sirius soon found out that it wasn't a bluff as he felt Hadrian's magic flowing around him. Before he could determine what was happening, the door he was leaning on gave way and turned into thick ropes that bound him and restricted any movement. He could barely wriggle his hands. Hadrian calmly stepped past him he reached the front door at the end of the hall before turning and addressing the bound wizard.

"The ropes should come off in about 20 minutes. Don't be so worried. This is nothing I can't handle. It didn't have to be like this if you just let me go." He finished before exiting the house. The door swung closed behind him and Sirius could hear the telltale crack of apparition, letting him know that Hadrian had left. Kreacher poked his head through the now door less door frame.

"Does this Master Hadrian will not be finishing his breakfast?" the small elf asked towards his most loathed master. Sirius stopped his wriggling against his bonds.

In an extremely sarcastic tone he answered Kreacher. "No, Kreacher. He's expecting you to bring it to him in the Caribbean in 15 minutes. What do you think? Now get me out of these bonds." He ordered Kreacher. Kreacher just cackled.

"Young master told me I was not to help you escape this house in any way. Kreacher won't go against orders given by the young master, especially when the go against the blood traitor who brings shame upon the family." He said with a shit eating grin. He hummed a small tune as he walked away to do whatever it was that Kreacher did in the house.

Hadrian landed on the main road of Hogsmeade. The cool morning air whipped through his hood and caressed his hair. The cloak he had on was good enough to hide his upper facial features. He looked around to get his bearings then set his path for the wrought iron gates at the end of the path. As he walked the path, he looked towards the shops. Many were still completely dark and only the one that had overnight patrons were in any state of operations. The sun still hadn't peeked over the hills but the glow could still be seen. He made his journey to the gates and could feel the ancient wards thrumming with power. He knew there was not a chance of him even denting the wards with his full strength behind anything he threw at it. He also couldn't freeze the wards. During his readings about magik, he had started to try and feel out for the leylines under him. Some were very faint while others were easier to detect.

The leylines below Hogwarts were an assault upon his senses. Not only were the leylines not lacking in power, there were seven of them. It would take hundreds of times the power he currently had to overpower these wards and freeze them. He sent a tendril of magic to try and get a feel for the wards. Immediately the wards started putting more strength towards the area he was in. Hadrian quickly withdrew his tendril and felt the wards shift back to their original positions. He slowly reextended his magic. The wards refocused back on him.

Hadrian searched the wards. He could feel the general feeling of _protection, power, and ancient_ , but beyond that, he couldn't pin down any of the wards. Several smaller wards were all tied into a single ward wall that continuously shifted, which made determining the wards near impossible. One would have to match the shifting perfectly to understand the wards. They seemed to shift out of his senses whenever he tried to grasp them. he gave up on trying to understand them and tried to think of a way in. Hadrian couldn't find a way in and decided if he couldn't sneak in, the he was going to make this affair loud. He gathered his magic into a large invisible fist the size of a giant's hand and rapped it on the wards. He just smiled at the following sound.

Almost all of the students and staff from all schools were still sleeping. Only the truly early risers were up at six in the morning. The castle most almost dead silent with a few hushed voices talking and some shoes scuffing against the floor as the made their way to the Great Hall for breakfast. Almost the entirety of all three schools were awoken early this morning by a loud gong sound the resonated throughout the entire area that Hogwarts was built upon. The only people who didn't dart awake was one redhead up in a tower, snoring the day away. The other two were a pair of human gorillas living within the dungeons.

Within ten minutes, the entrance hall was filled with curious students as well as teachers trying to organize the masses. Many students had brought their wands and were now gripping them tightly in a precautionary measure. The other schools' modes of transportation could be seen locked as this was all transpiring. Many theories on what was happening continued to fly back and forth, each more unlikely than the last. This rabble went on for another few minutes before a strong voice echoed over the general noise. "Silence." The voice roared over them. The crowd backed away from the source of the voice. It had come from the oldest living person inside the castle who was dressed in some of the most colorful pajamas. They were designed by having shooting stars that twinkled over the background of some of the cosmos. He made the rest of the way to the door unhindered.

When he reached the door, he addressed the students. "Students, I implore you to keep calm. There is no huge invading party outside of our door. If my guess is correct then our missing champion has decided to make a very noisy entrance." He told the mass of students. He opened the large doors and walked into the morning air that was just starting to receive sunlight. He walked down the path and returned a mere minute later with a robed figure who had his hood up. Students were craning their necks to try and get a better look at the person who had been missing from their world for the last half decade.

Dumbledore led Hadrian through the crowd. The crowd parted like the red sea to let the two wizards pass. When they made it out of the throng of students, Dumbledore turned around. "I am very sorry that most of you were disturbed from you night's rest, as I know many of you have classes. Look on the bright side. You now have time to prepare for these classes and get a full breakfast rather than cramming down food to get to class on time." He told the students before turning back around and continuing down the hall.

They reached two statues of gargoyles in front of a portion of wall. Dumbledore faced Hadrian. "Let me just send the other heads a message about the situation." He followed the statement with quick flourish of his wand that created two replicas of the phoenix that he had previously seen it the headmaster's office. That wasn't what caught his eye though. It might have only been for a brief moment, but he would recognize the wand anywhere. Ignotus had left detailed notes on how each gift acted and looked like. Hadrian had put them to memory and he wouldn't forget them. he recognized it for what it was immediately.

Hadrian came back to reality when he heard the headmaster say "Hershey's". The gargoyles jumped out of their static positions to have the wall move and reveal a spiraling staircase. The old man just stood off to the side and swept his arm in the direction of the stairs. "After you." He said. Hadrian walked to the stairs, more interested in this meeting than when he had first arrived. The knowledge he had just gained made him have second thoughts about his forced return for the time being. And with that, he rode the rotating stairs to the man's office.


	10. A Nice Chat

**Disclaimer: obviously, I only own the idea of my story and not that of the original author of this series.**

 _'French thoughts'_

 _"French speech"_

'English thoughts'

"English speech"

This method is reversed in flashbacks

Not even going to try putting French accents into the English portions

Chapter 10: A Nice Chat

The pair of wizards rode the stairs in silence. Dumbledore seemed to be happy with humming his own tune. There was a large difference between the output mood from either of them. Dumbledore seemed without a care in the world, and in fact seemed lost in one of his own creation. Hadrian, on the other hand, was solemn and silent as if waiting for the signal to start before going at whatever was in his way. The ride ended shortly as the staircase reached its destination. Hadrian looked over at Dumbledore and was met with a genial smile and a sweeping arm that finished pointing at his office. Hadrian followed the only direction he could. He came across a sturdy oak door and was about to grab the handle before it swung inward.

Walking through, Hadrian was greeted to the sight of numerous small trinkets covering a table that was to the right of the doorway. His gaze swept over the rest of the room. It roamed over the stacks of paper on the desk to the shelves of books that reached up into the second story of the office. His wandering gaze was interrupted when a small chirp was made and his attention was brought to the source of it. When his eyes fell upon the source of the noise, he was greeted with the sight of a phoenix with its chest slightly puffed up and a calculating eye looking back at Hadrian. Hadrian just stared at the avian creature. Dumbledore's voice rang through the office and brought him out of his inspection of the phoenix.

"His name is Fawkes. He's such an interesting one. His kind represent the cyclical nature of the world. Start and end. Birth and death. Creation and destruction. The rise and fall. They are truly marvelous.". He took a pause to break out of his reverie. "But you aren't here to listen to me prattle on about these sorts of things. You are here because you were entered into the tournament. Whether of your design or not is yet to be seen". Dumbledore took a seat in his armchair. His fingers were steepled in front of his face and he had a serious look on his face.

Hadrian inwardly snorted. He idly wondered how many times the old man had tried this on people. Probably a lot. No one survives to be over one hundred without learning to lie directly to someone's face, especially if they were involved in politics. It probably had a better chance of working when people were working with less information and insight than he had. Most people didn't get magic like he did. 'It's remarkable how people can use something without trying to understand what it is. I would think there would be more people who would want to find the connections between power, usage, and rules to see how we could better use it.'. Even though his thoughts had started to get off topic, he hadn't stopped following what Dumbledore was trying to convey.

With his face staying on the same stone slate look that had been there since the beginning of the conversation, Hadrian replied with aggression. "Cut the bullshit. I know it was you. I don't have the time or patience for your song and dance. I would rather not be here at all, but you seemed to have something else in mind. Which begs the question, why? What need was so overwhelming that you just had to bring me here? I hope it wasn't something as arbitrary as your want for my family to be reunited." His last comment ended in a scathing tone, giving Dumbledore a good guess of how likely that last scenario was to happen.

Dumbledore looked offended as each accusation was being made. "However much I would be pleased at having you and your family reunited, I don't have any hand in getting you here. I have no idea how you got in this tournament Harry, sorry, Hadrian." He said like he hadn't remembered Hadrian's name. "If we could find out how you were put in, then maybe we could get you out. Without knowing the exact process of entry, we don't know how iron tight the contract is in your specific case." Dumbledore looked sheepish. "I'm very sorry that something like this happened within the walls of a school that I am supposed to be guarding. I can assure you that I will have Alastor Moody start an investigation to see if he can find any information." Dumbledore said in an assuring tone.

Hadrian had to refrain from rolling his eyes at the statement of Moody doing any investigation that gave out any significant results against Dumbledore. The world would have to be ending at the Headmaster's hand before the veteran auror would change his stance on that. An investigation would help his ability to leave this competition anyway. He could feel the binding agreement that would force him to compete. There weren't any weak areas in it, in other words, no out clauses. Dumbledore didn't need to know that he knew. He didn't need to know how in tune he was with his own magic. It could make him even more cautious in the future, something he didn't need.

He broke himself out of his musings. It hadn't been more than a few seconds from Dumbledore's final statement. He gave him an easy smile and said sarcastically. "Oh, that makes so much better." extra emphasis and length was put on the so. "Something happens under your nose and you have no knowledge of how it might have happened. It lends thoughts to how fit you are to lead the school. Not one but two underage wizards were entered into a tournament where you were the one to put protections specifically against that happening. How are other supposed to trust in your ability to contain the actual tournament's happenings if you can't control the selection?".

A minute tightening around the eyes was the only reaction that gave off any annoyance that he had. It was imperceptible to anyone who wasn't looking for it. Dumbledore gave a slight dip of the head. "As I said earlier, I am sorry about the predicament that you find yourself in.". His eyes gained a steely look and a pressure weighed down upon the room as his next comment was said. "But don't ever think that I don't put the safety of my students first. Mistakes made by me have more consequences than others because of the level I sit at, but the safety of any and all the students are my top priority. I find it demeaning that you would even mention that.". The statement was said with absolute conviction. Not the smooth talking of a lie and not the uncertainty of a person trying to establish their views. This was one of long standing belief and dedication to that belief that was being put in question.

Hadrian was actually surprised at the amount of anger held within Dumbledore's statement. He had expected a response that tried to shift blame or an assurance, not a heated defense of a mocking comment. He had looked for any signs of deceit during the tirade, but could find none. People tended to slip on their control more when they had to inflect emotion into a lie.

A low croon of the from the avian creature made Dumbledore come back to his senses. Dumbledore released a heavy breath as he sank into his chair. "I'm sorry for my outburst. The safety of all the students that walk these halls are of my utmost concern. Every single person within this school will change the world we live in. Whether it is in a small way like just settling down with a nine to five job and family or for the one who becomes the minister. They all effect the world around them and it is my job to make sure that there are no hindrances to those multitude of changes in the future. It makes me frustrated when people take for granted that I am a human who is not perfect, one who can make mistakes like the rest of us. I guess people are blinded when their children are involved."

Hadrian couldn't help but agree. People reacted brashly when they perceive that their child is unfairly treated or in danger, whether it is real or not. People did it for different reasons. Some did it out of love for the child. Some don't want the child, but keep the child because the other parent is deceased. Others did it out of protection for their family line without much love involved. The last circumstance was seen mostly in select few traditional wizarding families.

"Yes, they certainly do. I wouldn't know firsthand, but I have certainly seen the protectiveness a parent can have for their child." Hadrian threw the jab at the Potters.

"Is this really going to be something argued about when they aren't here?"

Hadrian just gave a deadpan stare. "I'll throw it in wherever I can. Just to remind people of their mistakes."

Dumbledore just looked imploringly at Hadrian. "Hadrian please, your parents made a mistake. They see that and they want to make it up to you. Is it really fair to keep punishing them after they already beat themselves up over it?"

"Mistake?" he replied with vitriol. "A mistake is giving your kid a broomstick and not watching them closely enough so that they get hurt. A mistake is forgetting to go pick him up from a friend's house for a few hours. A mistake isn't neglecting to care for or spend time with a child. A mistake isn't handing the duties off to a house elf so that they are taken care of. That is a decision. One they made and a bed they will have to lie in. Besides, it seems as if only one of them is actually sorry. The other one doesn't seem to want to weigh himself down with a guilty conscience. He has his perfect son and doesn't need another one. Why should I bother trying to reconnect when I'm perfectly happy away from them?"

Dumbledore rubbed his temples. It wasn't that this discussion wasn't going in a likely place, it was just that it was happening. "That decision of a slight focus towards Thomas might have been partially my fault." Hadrian raised one of his eyebrows. Dumbledore answered the unasked question. "I told them that he might need some extra attention as he was growing up. I wanted to see if the residual dark magic had any effect on him as well as anything that might happen later on in life. I didn't mean for it to get to that point. If anything, I should at least shoulder some of the blame." Dumbledore said regretfully.

Hadrian internally smiled. It was subtle, just a small nudge. Giving him something to throw his anger at and give him an easier time reconnecting with at least one of his parents, who were in Dumbledore's corner. It all led back there at some point. If he wasn't looking for any miniscule fault, that nudge might have slipped his mind. He liked when he was given the chance to have a battle of wits with someone who actually had some amount of brains.

Outwardly, Hadrian just gave a grimace. "I'm done talking about my family. I also came here to find out about what the tournament entails as well as anything I need to do for it." He said sternly.

The aged wizard gave a small nod in agreement for the direction of the conversation. "The tournament is broken into three currently unknown tasks. The first task will take place on November 24th. You are allowed a wand. The rest of it relies upon your magical skill and wits. It is a test of quick thinking and bravery of facing the unknown. There will be a wand weighing ceremony the 11th of the same month. It is to make sure your wand is working properly."

Hadrian was at ease with that. He had almost a month to research patterns of what the first task held. It shouldn't be too hard to come up with a game plan to tackle the task. It would be fun to test himself against others around his age. One's that were supposed to be prodigies. He usually got to fight adults who had experience. It tended to make some of them repeat the same actions because it had worked before. They stagnated in skill and became obsolete. Younger prodigies generally tried to come up with their own ideas to see if they could beat their teachers with different strategies. They were the ones that would present more of a challenge.

Dumbledore continued on after he finished giving him the tournament information. "Now, onto the issue of rest quarters. I can sort you and get a bed ready in whatever house you are in.". Dumbledore gestured at the hat.

"No." Hadrian stated.

Dumbledore looked taken aback. "Sorry. What do you mean by no?"

Hadrian just stared back at the bearded wizard. "I said no. I don't need a bed or meals here. I was entered into this tournament, not enrolled in this school. I'll show up when necessary, but I don't need to stay here longer."

"I must insist that you stay. If any new information comes out….."

"You can send it in a letter by owl." Hadrian cut in.

"If anything about the tasks change close to or at the date, we might not be able to reach you in time. This might have the adverse effect of something happening with your magic." Another nudge, this one a little less subtle. Cause panic in the other to try and get their eye off of the ball, to make them slip up.

"That's a risk I think I'm fine making. Your ministry spent a lot of time planning out this tournament, I doubt they would try to change anything drastic."

Dumbledore couldn't seem to make any argument against that fact and went with another approach. "What about meeting other kids your age. You don't seem one to have a lot of friends." Dumbledore attempted at persuasion.

"If I had wanted that, I would have enrolled at the school. Now if it isn't too much of a bother, I got the information I needed and I will be back for the wand weighing ceremony. Other than that, I bid you a good day." Hadrian said as he got off his chair and his wand slid out of its holster. He then flicked it at the door, causing it to open. He was almost at the door frame before it shut rather violently. Hadrian had felt the magic being channeled and decided not to block it. If Dumbledore wanted to show force in his statements, he better be able to receive as well as he got.

Hadrian turned to see a standing Dumbledore who was stowing away his wand. The headmaster put his genial smile back on his face and pointed towards the chair in front of him. When he spoke next, it was with a tone that told Hadrian it was a suggestion. "As I said, we haven't finished speaking."

Hadrian just stared hard at the old wizard. He had never been particularly good at following orders from people he didn't like. His patience was also starting to wane. These factors, along with the whole problem of being stuck in this tournament had put him at a close to boiling point. Dumbledore was just continuing to add fuel to the fire. 'Or is it salt to ice.' Hadrian thought as his eyes turned sharper. They took on a faint glow and turned to a frostier emerald.

Dumbledore felt the sharp feeling of stepping out into a brisk winter morning and trying to take a breath. He looked down a bit and saw his breath. He stood up and slowly moved his hand into his sleeve where his wand lay. He didn't want to be caught off guard. From a few feet away from the elder wizard, an immortal firebird was squawking at the sudden change in temperature. Hadrian had made no attempt to move from his place, and just continued to exude his aura.

When he spoke, it was eerily reminiscent to the teacher who had his classes in the dungeons. "I came here so that I could get information on the tournament. A tournament which, let me remind you, I was entered in either by you or beneath your nose. I didn't come here to have a pleasant chat with the headmaster of a school I don't go to. Are you going to insist on keeping me here?"

Dumbledore was leaking some of his own power to counteract the pressure being exuded. He put his voice as close to carefree as he could. "I implore you to calm down. I just wanted to have a civil conversation with a potential student. I am sure that once you are here for a few days…"

Hadrian had tuned out Dumbledore's response. He had felt towards the door and could tell that it was resistant to magic. However, it wasn't warded against brute force. Hadrian whipped his wand out and levitated two of the objects just sitting on one of the tables. With a flourish of his wand, the objects gained a slight orange tint and flew towards the door. Dumbledore's speech trailed off when he saw the wand movements. He tightened his grip on his own and prepared for an assault when he saw the two trinkets fly at the door. He briefly recoiled when the objects impacted the door. The reason for this being that the objects exploded on impact. Splinters from what used to be the door flew across the room.

Hadrian had started walking and put up a shield as the trinkets connected with the door. He walked the final few steps out of the door frame. Once he had made it through, he turned back to face the headmaster. "I don't like being forced into things. I will be here for the wand weighing ceremony." He continued his way towards the spiraling stairs.

Dumbledore watched the retreating teen with a calculating expression. He reached into the wards and located the portion that the stairs were tied to. He made an attempt to turn it off, but felt his attempt be rebuffed. He furrowed his brow in confusion. He could feel Hadrian close enough to the bottom where even getting it turned off now would be of no consequence. He felt out for the gargoyle guardians at the doorway to his office. Again, he felt them slide open against his wishes. He finally gave up on trying to get the young Potter to stay. He made his way back to his chair and negligently waved his wand at the door and watched as the pieces of wood fit themselves back together. He sat down with a pondering look on his face, reviewing the meeting with young Hadrian in his mind. He was trying to glean any information he may have overlooked in the heat of the moment. He also pondered on why the wards didn't respond as they should have.

Hadrian came storming out of the archway, gargoyles jumping aside before he made his way through. There was a decent number of students hanging around in the surrounding hallways, milling about and talking. When Hadrian came out of the office, most of the talking stopped and the students turned to look at him. He scanned the various students he passed as he continued walking towards the exit. He saw that most of the students were from Hogwarts, but there were two or three from both of the two visiting schools.

He saw a group of students whispering vehemently towards each other before one broke away from the group and proceeded to get in Hadrian's way. Hadrian did a slight check over the boy. Slytherin, brutish, decent robes, lower magical power. Overall, just an annoyance. Hadrian just gave a blank look at the boy ahead of him. The confrontation seemed to bring the interest of all who had been staying in the halls.

"Is there something I can help you with?" Hadrian asked of the boy.

The wizard from the house of snakes sneered back. "You can tell us how you cheated to get into the tournament. Given how your brother was also entered, I bet this is some ploy by the Potter family to show off the return of their son that has been missing." A sense of loathing coated every word that came out of his mouth.

Hadrian raised an eyebrow. "I'm surprised that you even thought about the problem that much given the vacant and idiotic look on your face, or maybe your friends gave you that theory. I have no idea. I only know two things at this moment. One, I have no desire to be in this tournament and I was entered against my wishes." The boy looked like he was going to argue before Hadrian raised one finger. "I gave you your chance to speak, now shut up while I have mine." The boy's face was turning red and his fingers flexed like he was physically stopping himself from going for his wand. Hadrian the raised a second finger. "Two, if you don't move out of my way soon we will have a problem.

The boy firmly set himself into a more balanced position. "And what are you going to do if I don't." he said in a smug tone, as if nothing could touch him at this moment. "You're in Hogwarts. Even if you try and hurt me, my friends will just come an…"

He was cut off by the sudden feeling of weightlessness as he was thrown at high speeds down the corridor, flipping arse over teakettle. He bounced a few times before getting stopped when he smacked into a wall. He let out a groan, mostly from vertigo. 'I wish I didn't have to cushion his fall. I would have rather had him in the infirmary for the foreseeable future, but directing the ire of the headmaster and potentially someone in the Wizengamot isn't on my to do list.' Hadrian thought. He slowly continued his walk and started to speak out, not necessarily to anyone in particular. "Would anyone else like to take their chances? If you do, I must warn you that I will not cushion you like I did with that moron." He output some of his aura. Not enough to make it visible but enough so that the students would be able to feel the pressure, even if they didn't know the exact source of it.

Nobody made any movements to get in his way towards the front doors. He read the looks of the students as he passed them on his way out. The most common looks on their faces were fear, nervousness, anger, and curiousness. There were some who came just to watch the spectacle and didn't necessarily mind what happened, they just wanted more information on who they would be around in the next several months. He was almost at the door before he heard a sharp voice from behind him.

"Mr. Potter. What do you think you are doing against my students?" the voice came from an elderly lady, most likely a student from her earlier words. He also didn't have the desire to deal with an authority figure.

Hadrian made his way out of the double doors before turning around briefly and waved his wand. A large portion of stone rose from the ground and blocked access from the door. He turned back around and found himself in a courtyard. He continued on his way out. Just as he was about to make it out of the ward line, he felt a slight pull from the wards onto himself. It felt like someone who was gently pulling on your sleeve to get you to not leave. He brushed it off as Dumbledore's manipulation of the wards and continued his way on the road to Hogsmeade. The wrought iron gate was still open as he made it to the ward line. He walked through the frame of the gate and quickly disapparated from his spot.


	11. The Wand Weighing Ceremony

**Disclaimer: obviously, I only own the idea of my story and not that of the original author of this series.**

 _'French thoughts'_

 _"French speech"_

'English thoughts'

"English speech"

This method is reversed in flashbacks

Not even going to try putting French accents into the English portions

Chapter 11: Wand Weighing Ceremony

The week and a half until the wand weighing ceremony passed in a blur. It had mainly just been him studying spells and working on his control. He had been scouring the library for any more mentions of elementals, but couldn't find anything other than a few unimportant lines about them. The tone in the house had been much more subdued. Sirius hadn't mentioned the incident to Hadrian, but there had been a disconnect between the black sheeps of the two families. The day had arrived and he found himself back in front of the wrought iron gates that he had left not long ago.

He was met by a girl who was around his age, maybe a year older, who made a motion with her arm to come closer. She had the blue trims and raven badge on her robes, indicating which house she belonged to. "My name is Cho Chang, I'll be taking you to the ceremony."

Hadrian could see the nervousness and curiosity in her eyes. He gave a nod t show that he had heard her. When she saw that he wasn't going to say anything, she turned around and started to lead him into the castle. During the walk, Hadrian could see her inner struggle of wanting to ask him questions and remembering the last person who stood up to him. In the end, the slight fear outweighed her nagging curiosity and the trip passed in relative silence. She started to slow down and Hadrian followed suit.

"Here we are. If you need anything else the headmaster is inside the room. I have class to get to, but I guess I'll see you around." She said before heading down the hallway and disappearing around the corner. Hadrian took a steadying breath before putting his hand on the knob and twisting. He was greeted to the sight of the four champions with their respective headmasters, along with an older man who looked like a mad scientist as well as a lady holding a notepad with a poison green pen hovering above. The last person in the room was the partner and photographer of the journalist. The photographer wasn't doing his job very well as he seemed to get distracted by something.

Hadrian took a closer look at the champions. He saw his brother who was trying to get himself in some extra pictures, to which he would be able to capture the photographer's attention for a few moments before it inevitably slipped away. Hadrian looked around for the source of the distraction. He didn't have to look very hard. He found his previous charge and instantly knew what the problem was. While Fleur wasn't trying to do anything, the natural allure that she let out would overtake the weak minded. This created the issue of the camera man being constantly distracted.

His gaze then slid over to the two other champions. They were both broad shouldered and rather tall. The similarities seemed to end there. Viktor Krum was stockier and had a sort of rugged handsomeness. He also had a brooding look on his face that only deepened when the reporter would try and talk to him. The other champion, Cedric Diggory if he remembered the paper correctly, was the definition of pretty boy. The hair and face complimented his inviting smile, leading Hadrian to believe that he was probably a leader in his house.

Hadrian closed the door and that seemed to gain the attention of the other occupants of the room. The reporter got a hungry look in her eye and was about to advance before Dumbledore spoke up.

"Now that we are all here, I believe we can get on with the ceremony."

The reporter looked a tad bit disheartened before setting her face back to neutral. The old man who had been standing off to the corner of the room stepped forward. Dumbledore spoke up again.

"Everyone who doesn't know him, may I introduce you all to Garrick Ollivander. He will be the one to be testing all of your wands today."

The now revealed wand-crafter seemed a little jittery. Hadrian had no idea what it was from till the man spoke.

"No one in my family has done a wand weighing in centuries." He said with excitement. "But you don't care about ancient history. Let's get on to the ceremony. Mr. Krum, if you will." He said with his hand outstretched. The Bulgarian pulled out his wand and handed the handle towards the wand-crafter. The old man looked at it and Hadrian could feel the small tentacles of magic being sent as probes by Ollivander. He brought it back up into the light to inspect for any flaws in the wood.

"10 ¼ inches, hornbeam with dragon heartstring. A bit more rigid than I usually make them so not one of mine. If I'm not mistaken, this is a Gregorovitch creation?" he said with a questioning lilt at the end.

The Durmstrang champion beamed with pride. "I was one of the last ones to get his wands."

Ollivander nodded like he had expected that. "Everything seems to look good. Let's see how it performs." He said before flourishing the wand and conjured a rose before vanishing it. "It seems to be in excellent form." He complimented while handing it back to its owner. He then turned towards the next person.

"Now, the French delegation. If I may?" Fleur held out the wand to the man with reluctance. He seemed eager to grab it and tried to take it before she had fully extended it towards him. The moment he touched the wand he pulled his hand back. "Whoops. Sometimes I get overzealous." He laughed. He took the wand gingerly this time and brought it up to eye level. He inspected the wood for damage before having a slight confused look on his face before he brought the wand up to his ear. A surprised look overtook the previous one.

"9 ½ inch, rosewood with what I believe to be a veela hair." He stated while looking at Fleur. She nodded back at him. "One of my grandmothers." Ollivander nodded. "I don't use them as they seem to be a little too temperamental for my liking, but to each their own." He said before waving his wand.

"Avis". His action caused a small ring of birds to be conjured around his head where he then pointed them out of the open window. "It seems to be functioning at full capability." He handed the wand back where it was almost snatched out of his hand.

"Continuing on with the British. Mr. Diggory?" The wand he was looking for found its way into his hand. His face seemed more interested as he studied it. "One of mine. I see it's also been well taken care of." His pleased smile showed his mood towards his wands being well treated.

"Polished it last night sir." Diggory said with pride. His chest seemed to puff out a little in tandem with his comment.

"Very good. 12 ¼ inch, ash with a unicorn hair. It feels in good order. Now for the test." He waved the wand and caused wine to spew out like a fountain, which he then vanished before it reached the floor. "Excellent." He returned Diggory's wand.

He turned towards Thomas. "Eldest first." Thomas handed over his wand. "Another one of mine. 11 inches, holly with a phoenix feather core. A little lackluster on the cleaning but that can be improved. No matter." He transfigured one of the chairs into a desk and back. "I see nothing wrong with this." He handed the focus back.

"Now, onto our last champion." Hadrian looked at the wand crafter. He deactivated the runes that stopped other people from using his wand. He could see an intrigued look come across the old man's face. "For all my years spent in the wand business I still rarely get to see custom made Favager wands. They are usually zealously guarded. I have only been able to study a few from families who have lent them to me after the owner had died. It is rare I get to see a forged wand."

Rita stepped forward. "I'm sorry, did you say forged? Aren't wands crafted?" she seemed ready to have something to say for the old wand maker who had made a mistake.

"I guess that they do have to do some crafting to make their wands, but no, I used the word forging on purpose. Do you know much about the process of forging steel?" The reporter shook her head. "In the process of forging the steel, there is a part where the forger must beat the slag, or impurities from other metals, out of the steel they are trying to create so that the metal can become pure. The Favagers have a similar concept. When the wood for a wand is taken from its place in nature, it generally has some magic residue on it. It can be from a magical creature wandering about the tree or it can be from a witch or wizard using magic close by or on it. Favager were the sole receivers of the title of wand forger for their ability to purify the wood from any residual magic. It makes the wand connect better with the owner as it is mainly their magic that now coats the entirety of the wand. It has been a secret that many wand crafters have desired to find the secret to and never found. They do sell regular wands as well, due to the fact that their magic cleansing process is apparently very taxing on them. The regular wands will not, however, produce the same results. They also usually only make custom wands for people that are high in social circles or people who they have taken an interest in."

Rita seemed sad that she wouldn't have a reason for a scathing article. Ollivander the continued. "Well, I guess if you come to Hogwarts you are a student or professor. I'm sorry for the impromptu lecture. 12 ½ inches, water oak with a crushed serpent scale core. I haven't had the chance to use this core myself, as the ingredient is extremely rare. I have no doubt that this wand will be best used by you and will hardly react to me and I have never seen Favager wands falter for their owners." He handed it back. Hadrian deftly raised his hand and reacquired his wand before sliding it back into its holster.

Dumbledore gently clapped his hands together. "With the ceremony done, I am excited to see you all in almost two weeks' time." The tournament entries started to head towards the door.

"Not so fast. We can't leave without a few pictures. It's for the front page of the Prophet tomorrow."

Hadrian didn't stop his walk towards the door. "Mister Potter?" the reporter called out.

Hadrian continued. "I didn't come here to be paraded in front of the people. I came because my name was entered without my consent. Pictures aren't in my top concerns at the moment." He opened the door and closed it rather harshly before ending up in the hallway.

He stalked down the hallway, retracing his steps to the place he came in through. His walk was uninterrupted as most students were in their classes. He was halfway through his walk when he thought he heard a whisper. He spun around looking for the source of the voice, as he couldn't feel anybody's magical signature nearby. He looked around the empty hallway. He couldn't see anybody and continued walking. Not two steps later, another whisper made it to his ears. This one only making the sound of a soft p. Hadrian brought in his senses to a five-meter radius so that he could feel anything and everything in that area.

Once he had made sure nothing was in the area, he slowly started to expand it. Making it larger, meter by meter, he continuously felt nothing. He then created a thin layer of water around himself and banished it outwards. The water hit nothing but the walls when it reached them. Anyone who saw him right now would look at him like he was crazy. He started to make his magic flow in preparation for any spells he might have to react to.

He nary moved a foot before the whisper made itself known again. "Up." He could make out the word, along with an amused lilt that carried as well, as if the speaker was amused. He looked up at the ceiling before he heard what sounded like a distant giggle of a woman. "No, stairs." Hadrian made his way to the portion of the castle that held the moving staircases. He had heard stories of the stairs that moved erratically, causing students to be late for classes. Now, while most of them were moving, there were some that were static. They looked like a preplanned route through a maze of chaos. "Follow."

He considered that this was a ploy by Albus before disregarding that thought. It hadn't been long since he had left the room and Dumbledore seemed one that didn't want to insult the press to their faces. Though that was the confusing part. He couldn't think of anyone else who had the ability and access to manipulate the wards and magics of Hogwarts to suit their needs. The only other person who had the slightest chance of doing this would have been the deputy headmistress. He also discarded her as the culprit. For one, she was teaching a class. Secondly, the voice didn't sound like the strict voice he had heard in the entrance hall the last time he was here. These thoughts left him stumped on who seemed to be playing a game with him.

He had heard about how Hogwarts held many mysteries, but he hadn't heard of one where a voice directed someone places. He decided to continue. If whoever was doing this intended him harm. They would have done so already, as he was at the mercy of the Hogwarts wards. Still, he took his steps with a measured pace and made his way up the stairs. Higher and higher he rose until eventually the stair cases led him to a door which he pulled open. The hallway he walked into was barren except for a few paintings and a few benches off to the sides. He looked around for any more clues before zeroing in on the paintings. It didn't look like much, most of them were doing normal things, but if one were to pay attention to all of them they would see a large number of pointed fingers. All of them pointed in the direction Hadrian figured he was supposed to be going.

He walked along the hallway and looked at the paintings constantly to make sure he was on the right path. He made his way until the paintings started pointing back at him. He got into the spot that was between both sides of the pointed fingers. He saw the arms in the paintings drop as they went back to whatever they had been doing before. He looked at the point he had been led to.

'Is this it? They brought me all this way so that I could see some dancing trolls?' He thought. The one man in the tapestry who was busy dodging troll legs looked at him. He must have seen Hadrian's confused face as he gave a quick point over Hadrian's before quickly sidestepping the troll foot that landed right where he had been standing a moment ago. Hadrian turned around. There was a small design being made at the center of the wall that he knew had been blank when he had walked up. The design kept growing until it covered a large portion of the wall. It suddenly sunk into the wall as the design gained three dimensional qualities. The end result was a door that looked as if it should be at the entrance to the great hall and not in some random hallway. He reached for the handle and tentatively grabbed the handle before twisting. He cautiously poked his head inside. He could see a fairly spacious room with nothing obstructing his view. The only thing that was inside the room was a cloaked figure with its back towards him.

"Don't be shy." Even though it was at a normal talking voice, he could recognize the voice from the whispers. "I'm sorry about the inability to hear me. I haven't spoken in a while so I didn't want to yell it out to the castle, that would have been rather awkward." He deftly made his way into the room, looking for any signs of a trap. He made his way until he was only about two meters away from the lady. "I'm just glad the paintings still remember what to do. It has been a long time. But I digress. I haven't had someone knock so loudly before. Most people would think it rude to make such a noise that early in the morning."

Hadrian had the decency to look a little sheepish. It had been rather rude to the other inhabitants to wake them. "I guess it did have some benefits. I wouldn't have met you if you didn't knock so hard." A befuddled look overcame Hadrian's face at that comment. He didn't think his knock was anything too hard to replicate.

"What do you mean that we wouldn't have met? Anybody that graduated with any actual knowledge of magic could have done that." He awaited an answer.

The woman turned around. She looked to be in her mid-twenties with raven black hair and chocolate brown eyes. Eyes that looked to hold an untold amount of wisdom. "It is not that what you did was hard, more of the consequences of what you did. I haven't been up for ages. The loud sound echoing throughout the castle was like an alarm spell for me. And then I got to notice the strong signature walking through the gates. My rest has apparently been long, seeing as I'm looking at an elemental. I went to sleep after I heard of my student's demise."

Hadrian's eyes tightened and he took a step back. His magic fired through his pathways. A feeling of cold settled over the room and he could start to see his own breath. He had no idea how this lady knew he was an elemental. If what she was saying was true, she had been around for centuries and was extremely dangerous. His senses were on high alert for anything that might happen. "There is no need for that." She said while holding up her hands. "I have no intention of bringing any harm to you. I rarely ever did anything against my students outside of my instructional times. Only the odd instances where I felt my student was in need of reprimanding. I am quite impressed by your control. Though I wonder if that is as far as you have gotten, or if you have pushed yourself to learn more?"

Hadrian's body was still taught, ready to move at any sign of things going south. He stayed silent and the lady continued on as if she didn't feel the mounting tension.

"You have most of that technique down, but you can take it further. Keep your magic entwined with the cooling water in the air and it makes it easier and quicker to conform it into water when necessary."

Tension could be seen slowly leaving Hadrian's shoulders. It didn't leave completely, but enough so that the other person was wary of being the recipient of a barrage of spellfire at the slightest movement. "And how would you know so much about how I use my abilities?" He had a sneaking suspicion of who he was talking to. He wanted to see if he was right. "There aren't too many books about how elementals use our magic. Did you make it your life-long passion to study an elemental's style of magic?" he threw out the bait.

"My life-long goal was to expand my mind. It was to create new things to help wizarding society as well as to teach the young so that they might better their own lives. The latter parts of my goals have almost been completely ground to a halt, but my search for knowledge didn't stop until I went to sleep. I think it would be better to say that it was put on hold while my mind rested. I still seek to know all that I can. And for your other question, why would I not know about how my own magic works. It would be a terrible shame if I used something with no concept of how it worked."

His suspicion was becoming more and more set into a belief. "One last question." She smiled benignly at him, as if say "anything". "How is a founder of Hogwarts still here, not as a ghost or painting, but as a person?" It was something that bewildered him. Even the Flamels were able to avoid public knowledge about their existence forever, and Rowena had been alive centuries before them.

"I love a bright student. It makes sessions go quicker. You are half right. I am not a ghost, nor am I a painting. However, I am not alive." Hadrian's head rotated a few degrees to the right. He raised a finger and slowly moved it towards her shoulder. She gave him a deadpan look before raising her own hand and flicking away his finger. He pulled his hand back with a calculating look. "As I said, I am not alive. I died centuries ago in this very room. It was a room I designed and built myself. It was made so that I could teach an apprentice in a setting of my desire. Each of my apprentices were brought to this room the same way you were. They had no knowledge of what was going on, but made the same conclusion I assume you came to. That I am not out to hurt you. Why would I want to hurt the bright minds of our society? They are the ones who will facilitate change."

"That doesn't answer how you are here." Hadrian tried to steer the conversation.

"It has to do with how and where I died. I left the castle after I felt I had taught the students and the new faculty all that they would need to know to make progress towards the future. I traveled the world to broaden my horizons. When I felt that my time was near, I came back to the castle and had the elves take care of me until my passing. When I passed, my mind melded with the wards. There is a reason that the castle is thought to have become sentient over the years, though most get the reason wrong. I melded with the wards, but I had died in this room which becomes what one needs most. I could use it to create a body for myself and my mind returns to it for its duration. I can't take it outside this room. So, I would lead students to me using the wards. I continued teaching promising students until I heard what had happened to my last one." Hadrian's interest was piqued. He wondered what names had been put in the history books because of teachings in this room.

"Answer me this. Why is there such a low number of students at the school? There can't be more than 300."

"A war. It caused the death of numerous families as well as muggleborns causing a large decrease in the number of students we would have in the following years."

Rowena shook her head as if in pity. "What wastefulness. Were they really so foolish as to fight because of one's birth. Magic is magic. It's stupid of them not to see it. There are only a few advantages one has being born from a magical over a muggle. One is the possibility of receiving any skills that are passed down the family tree. The second is just that they grow up around magic and don't have to acclimate to it like a muggle born would and get the benefits of learning about our society at a younger age. They also have the chance to have spells made by their family that only they or anyone they teach will know. That is pretty much where the benefits of birth end."

"So, the whole blood supremacy thing…"

"Is just a façade. People trying to put themselves above others. I have no doubt that it has been preached for so long that lots of people believe it and why wouldn't they. It's a way to see yourself above your peers. Isn't that what we all do? Try to find something in ourselves that separates and puts us ahead of the rest. They aren't going about it the best way, but they are falling into human nature. While we are on the topic of magical blood, what are the muggles doing? Are they still hunting us for the things that they can't control?"

"No, the ministries around the world have gotten it to the point that most muggles believe magic to be fictional and the ones who do believe in it are considered to be nut jobs. The only contact we really have with the muggle world is when the teachers go and talk to the families of muggleborns. So that limits the amount of these types of occurrences to a few times a year. They generally go and talk to the families on the child's eleventh birthday before the school starts."

"Is that why they seem more confused than they used to?" She saw Hadrian's confused face and continued. "You don't grab them from the families as soon as magical prowess is displayed?" Hadrian shook his head. "That explains a good deal. We had a whole department dedicated to monitoring for magic across the countryside so that we could find children who could use magic and to get them away from the possibly hostile situations that would arise if they were discovered by villagers, or sometimes from their own families. Therefore, they had more of their childhood in the magical world. We didn't start actual magical training until eleven but we would educate them on how our world worked and that their gift was a gift and not something to be considered as a sin."

"What did you guys do with the parents?"

"It depended on the level of hostility found within them. We generally left the them alone if they held no animosity towards the child and would schedule some meetings throughout the year so they could see each other. There were some who turned a cold shoulder to the child but wouldn't do anything against them because they were their own flesh and blood. We would create scenarios in their mind of their child not coming home after wandering out of their eyesight. It was the easiest way if other people in the village would know the child. Then there were the people who would either harm their child or tell the others in the town about the child's abilities. We usually cursed these families and misfortune would fall upon only those in the family who were at fault. They never extended to people's descendants. This meant that magical children almost always joined our society earlier than they do in this age."

Hadrian accepted the answer, then looked up to see Rowena laughing. "What?"

"There seems to a man trying to sneak past the wards. He just changed into a dog and he is now sneaking towards a passage from the outside."

"Is it a large black dog?"

"Yes. You know him?"

"My godfather. He is probably not used to someone having as much control and a feel for the wards as you have. He told me stories about how he used to slip in and out of the castle during his school days without anyone noticing. He probably came here for me. I should go meet him before he does something foolish."

Rowena seemed a little disheartened. "My door is always open to you should you want a place to learn. Walk past the wall three times thinking of the place you need and the door will appear."

Hadrian had a stray thought. "Are you able to make the passage impassable and to make him use the front door? I don't want to have to go search for him."

She nodded. "Go and meet your godfather. I hope to see you soon young elemental."

Taking the dismissal for what is was, Hadrian headed back to the door and exited. The hallway was clear when he exited and he could hear the general cacophony of school children's yells throughout the hallways. Just as they had when he ascended them, the stairs made a straight path for him rather than making him go through various alternate routes or having to wait. He made his way down to the front entrance and waited for Sirius to show up.

Sirius walked to the large front doors to find his godson leaning against its frame with an amused smirk across his face.

"Couldn't sneak into the castle?" Hadrian mocked the Black lord.

Sirius' eyes lit up "That was you! I though Dumbledore had stopped me from trying to sneak in. I thought he was trying to put you in some uncomfortable situation to try and make you stay."

Hadrian shook his head. "No, he wouldn't do that with so many people around. He has his reputation. But he doesn't have to convince me either. I've decided to stay for the remainder of the tournament."

Sirius looked worried. "Hadrian are you okay? Did Dumbledore do anything to you?"

"No, Sirius, this is of my own free will, though it is nice to have someone worrying about me. I just think that having access to the grounds of the tournament as well as the massive library this school has will be a boon to my chances of surviving and even winning this thing." Hadrian said, deciding to keep Rowena a secret.

"I thought you didn't want to enter."

"I don't want to be in the tournament. However, if I'm going to be put in it regardless of my wishes I might as well go for the gold, both metaphorically and literally."

"What about your family? Will you be able to handle them and Dumbledore for the whole year?"

"Sirius, I have one family member left. You." Sirius got a little misty eyed. "I can handle my family. Dumbledore will be a challenge but I think I can manage. I feel like I have someone looking out for me in this castle."

Sirius bear hugged him. "Then you go show the what you are made of. Not as a Potter, but as Hadrian, the man who will win the tournament for all those above him." He let go of the Peverell head. "What is the next step?"

"Room and board." He said as he walked towards the office he had been in less than two weeks ago with his godfather trailing behind him.


	12. A Hard Lesson

**Disclaimer: obviously, I only own the idea of my story and not that of the original author of this series.**

 _'French thoughts'_

 _"French speech"_

'English thoughts'

"English speech"

This method is reversed in flashbacks

Not even going to try putting French accents into the English portions

Sorry for not posting for a while. Kind of lost the story with midterms, worlds, and the end of the season coming in. Hope this makes your holiday week slightly better.

Chapter 12: A Hard Lesson

The duo made their way to the headmaster's office. "Anything interesting happen around the ceremony?" Sirius asked. They hadn't even made it down the hall before the silence was broken.

"Not really, the only thing that was interesting thing was a slight explanation of one of the processes in the creation of my wand. It was rather tedious beyond that fact. The reporter also seemed like an annoyance."

"Blond hair with glasses and a green pen?" Hadrian nodded. "That would be Rita Skeeter. She's a piece of work. She'll get some of the facts and then twist them into a story that will sell better and offend the person her story is about."

"I don't really care what people think of me, as long as they leave me alone. I'm only here because someone entered me and my magic is on the line. I hope that people will understand that, but the British seem to be more blind to such obvious things."

"Hey." Sirius barked out.

"Yes, Sirius, I included you. Do you even know anything about the spells you use?" Hadrian asked with curiosity.

"I know enough to tie a ton of enchantments together and string them to a set of wards so that I could have a real-time map of this castle." That peaked Hadrian's interest. "That was at the age of fifteen by the way."

"You?" Hadrian said incredulously. "I find it hard to believe that someone with your…. mentality would have the capability of creating something that is beyond most or all Hogwarts students. Do you have it lying around somewhere?" Hadrian prodded.

"Believe what you will, but we did make it. And no, I don't have it. It got nabbed by Filch in our final year. Bugger didn't know what it was or how it worked though, it was just in a bag with all of our prank stuff that he confiscated." That was a bit of a letdown. It would have been nice to know where his family was if they were trying to find him in the castle.

"No matter. Let's just get our talk with Dumbledore over with." Hadrian said as they arrived at the gargoyles. The stone guardian just stared straight ahead. "I would like to speak to the headmaster. Is he in?" There were a few moments where nothing happened before the statue hopped to the side. The duo made their way to the stairs and stood while they were rotated to the floor above.

They continued into the hallway and arrived at a wood door which was promptly pushed open by Hadrian. "Come…in. I must say that most people knock before coming into my office." Dumbledore said in a genial tone. Sirius moved off to the side to watch the back and forth between the two.

"For what reason? You most likely know when each person will arrive due to the gargoyle's telling you." Hadrian stated.

"It isn't a necessity, merely what most people view as the polite thing to do. However, I am guessing you aren't here to talk about the way I answer my door."

"I would like to request a room at Hogwarts for the remainder of the tournament." Hadrian stated, not wanting to beat around the bush.

The smile stayed upon Dumbledore's face. "What made you change your mind? I clearly remember you saying that you didn't want to enroll within the school."

"And I still don't, but it would be a waste of resources to let the library of this school go unused. The Black library might have more spells, but I'm guessing that the Hogwart's library contains more general knowledge about things I will need to know."

"Yes, it certainly does house a huge amount of knowledge that will probably never be all read in one lifetime, but is that the only reason you want to be here? It seems like you could have come to that conclusion weeks ago." Dumbledore fished.

"Let's just say I thought the size of the Black library isn't equal to the amount of information that I want to learn from those books." It wasn't a complete lie. A lot of the books went into things that Hadrian preferred to stay away from. He had no use for rituals that called for him to give up any part of him, whether it be physical, magical, or mental.

Unseen by the other two occupants of the room, Dumbledore's shoulders lost some of their tension in that statement. While he guessed it wasn't the only reason, it was at least nice to know the young boy hadn't already started getting into the dark arts. That he still had a line he wasn't going to cross in search of power. Now he only needed to keep it that way.

"If that is so then is there any preference to what house you would like to be lodging in?" Dumbledore asked.

"I would prefer to not be in any of them as I am not a student of this school. I am sure that in the magnificence that is this castle that there will be some guest rooms. I highly doubt the founders only believed that the only people to ever step these halls would be students." Hadrian said with a tone that brooked no argument.

Dumbledore put on a thoughtful look. "There might be a few guest rooms throughout the castle. Is there any preference to where your room might be situated?" Dumbledore asked. He was trying to see if Hadrian was near anything in the castle that he might have found.

"Near the library with access to somewhere I could practice the magic I come across."

Dumbledore could think of a few places where Hadrian could stay with those requirements, though he couldn't think of anything that would be of interest beyond the library. "There is a room on the second floor that is near an unused classroom. I know it's not right next to the library, but it should keep student traffic at a lower level/ is that alright with you?"

Hadrian nodded. Dumbledore thought that keeping him more isolated would make it easier for him to be spied on by the castle itself. It's a shame that he didn't know that the castle leaned in Hadrian's favor.

Dumbledore was partially pleased. He now had the second Potter son at Hogwarts, yet he had no clue of his ulterior motives. Most of the more powerful magics had been either removed from the library or put in the restricted section where Dumbledore himself could monitor who would go through these books. It was at least baby steps in the direction he wanted. He came out of his small thought process and gave his old legs a small stretch. He made his way around his desk and towards the other two occupants in the room. "If that is all we have to discuss?" he asked of the duo. He was graced with an affirmative nod from Hadrian and Sirius followed Hadrian's example. "Then follow me." the headmaster said before passing the two and heading towards the staircase. He could hear the slight shuffling behind him to let him know that the pair was following him.

The old wizard led them through a relatively empty corridor before coming to a stop in front of a suit of armor. "Hello, Eldric. Would your services be available today?"

The suit of armor, which looked the same as any of the ones lining the hall, raised his head to look at the headmaster. "You would know if somebody was staying in my room. I think it is quite useless to ask a question you know the answer to." The suit's voice came out as slightly grating, as if the owner rarely had a use for it.

Dumbledore just gave the armor an amused chuckle. "As witty as ever I see, even when you don't get much practice." Dumbledore could see the armor was going to reply to his comment. "However much I like our banter, I'm afraid I must cut it short." He swung his arm around the point to his companions. "The older man is Sirius Black and the younger is Hadrian Potter. Mister Potter is in need of a room for the duration of his stay and your room's location seemed ideal to his needs. Are you willing to let him use your room?"

The armor didn't even miss a beat. "It is my job to provide a room for people you point towards me. I would be happy to let him use my room. I hope he treats it well." He ended with a more threatening tone.

Hadrian stepped forward. "I have no intention of causing any damage to the room you are guarding and I thank you in advance for being the lookout for me." The knight gave a small dip of his helmet in appreciation.

Dumbledore clapped his hands. "Well, I'll let you get settled. I will just leave you with one parting thought." The air became heavy as Dumbledore exuded his power. "Any unprovoked attacks upon my students will be met with harsh consequences. Do I make myself clear?" he asked in a more serious tone.

Hadrian looked unaffected by it all while Sirius looked like he was withstanding it without too much exertion. "I understand. Please note that I will not start things, but I will end anything that comes my way."

The pressure left as soon as it came. "Good, then we have an understanding." He said jovially. "I will warn the students about antagonizing you, but you know how teenagers are. If they do disobey and attack, I request that you make it so that they won't be out for too long and that they keep all of their limbs."

Hadrian nodded. He could agree to that. At least the headmaster wasn't demanding that he roll over for the other students.

"Have a good day you two." The headmaster stated before heading off in the direction of his office.

The knight made some creaking noises trying to get their attention. "What would you like your password to be young one?"

Hadrian gave it some thought. He really didn't care if someone entered as he wasn't planning to leave anything important within the room and his senses would alert him to anyone coming in while he was sleeping. He also didn't want it to give any hint about his life beyond what people already knew. "How about 'the prodigal son'." He said. The wall next to the armor slid sideways to reveal a room that was a single bedroom connected to a personal bathroom. He walked into the room and was followed by Sirius before he heard the voice of Eldric call out to him. "Remember that I am three from the end of the row." The voice faded and the door to the room shut.

Hadrian headed over to the bed and flopped down onto it. Sirius went to one two chairs that was in the room. Sirius looked over him like a parent would when they would send a kid away for camp. "You want me to try and get a room around here as well? You never know what Dumbledore might try."

Hadrian looked over at Sirius with an amused smirk. "Do you really believe that Dumbledore is just out to get me?"

"Do you not?" he replied. "Just look at the stuff he's done to pull you back. He definitely has some plan for you."

"Having a plan and being out to get someone are two different things." He could see Sirius about to interrupt. "Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that I want to go along with it or even that I understand and agree with his motives. Everything I see about Dumbledore paints the picture of someone who has been around and in control for so long that he hasn't had much instability in his life. My return has thrown a wrench into whatever plans he had already laid out and was executing. I don't think he's some mastermind to put himself in power, he could have done that decades ago if he truly wished for it to be so. I think he sees the picture he wants and tries to create it, regardless of what the people involved think is best. He relies on the huge amount of trust he has built up with families over the years to push his agendas. But no, I do not think he is inherently out to get me. He just has a fixed idea of what the future should look like and is trying to get everything to mold to that image. That includes whatever role he has designed for me. He's just too set in his ways after being in control for the better decades."

Sirius gave a wry chuckle. "Thought about this, have you?" he joked.

"Every meeting, all stories I heard through the grapevine went into what made my opinion. I obviously don't have the whole picture, with only having met him a handful of times and not knowing much from the vast majority of his younger years. It will probably change at the end of this year through the information I gather."

Sirius' whole posture seemed to relax. "So, you have nothing that you are fearing from Dumbledore for the year?"

Hadrian's face morphed into one of someone who didn't quite agree. "I have no doubt that he will try things throughout the year. If I stay on my guard I should be able to dodge anything he throws my way."

"Anything I can do to help?" Sirius asked.

"Keep me informed about any large new political actions that happen, or anything that might affect me. And Sirius…" Sirius looked concernedly at Hadrian due to his change of tone. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Sirius asked, baffled.

"For giving up on you. For thinking that you had given up on me. For never trying to get your side. For not coming to the one person who helped me through my adolescence. I just felt like I was cursed into the shadows when I was in Britain and I didn't want to return to that, even after I had found a way back."

Sirius got out of his seat and crossed the small room before wrapping his arms around the Peverell lord. "It's ok. You have nothing to apologize for."

"Thank you, for still helping me."

"It's no problem pup." He slowly released Hadrian and stood to his full height. "I guess I should leave you to preparing for your competition. I wish you the best of luck and will be back for the first task. I'll send something tomorrow so that you can keep in touch. Show them what you can do." Sirius said before turning to exit the room.

The following hours found Hadrian back in the room with Rowena. There was less teaching than he had been led to believe she would give, but he figured that it was due to her trying to get a feel of how much he knew about his powers. He had been showing off a variety of his tricks so that she could see how much control he had. He was putting the finishing touches upon an ice sculpture he was making when she asked a question.

"What brought you to Hogwarts? I can feel the youngest age here is eleven, yet you are fourteen. I know I set the wards to awaken me should an elemental walk into their threshold as they are currently alerting me to your presence." Rowena asked.

Hadrian gained an annoyed look on his face. "I got entered in a tournament that I didn't want to compete in, and since it's being held here this is where I came." Hadrian had mixed feeling about being entered. One part of him was annoyed at being forced into something that he didn't consent to as well as having the feeling like someone was trying to use him as a pawn. On the other hand, he would have never met Rowena. Hadrian doubted that anybody had planned the meeting between the two. If what Rowena said was true, then no one had spoken to her for the past 3 centuries. He doubted anyone aside from Nicholas and Perenelle Flamel could say that they were around at that time.

"And you couldn't just stay away? Wouldn't it have just disqualified you?" she asked. She was curious as there seemed to be something more going on.

"If I could have I would have. The tournament entry is a binding magical contract to see it through to the end or to lose your magic. Somebody manipulated it by using my magical signature so it could use that as the two-party agreement."

"That sounds a lot like a tournament that was held many times many years ago. The Triwizard tournament if my memory serves me correctly."

"That's the one I'm in right now." He said.

"I guess that's why they brought those creatures onto school grounds." She murmured to herself.

"What did they bring?" Hadrian asked.

"They have dragons deep in the forest. Though it seems that they have lost their respect for the creatures if they brought mothering dragons along with their eggs. That would just put the baby dragons in danger and hurt the already endangered status of those creatures."

Hadrian froze for a moment when he heard that there were dragons that were most likely for the first task. It took multiple wizards to subdue one of those dragons when they were tired and hungry. Having to go against mothering dragons, who were more ferocious than male dragons, was so insane that the only thing he could attribute this to was the sheer idiocy of the British Ministry of Magic. They had never proved themselves to actually be competent at anything other than the oppression of those not in power.

"Now that I have a gist of your abilities, coupled with what we know you will be against, it should make my job of teaching you easier." The room around them started to expand and the walls surrounding them gradually faded away. When the room was done changing, they were left in the middle of a clearing with a small river running beside them and soft grass was beneath their feet. Hadrian looked around in amazement. He had been skeptical about Rowena's confidence in the room. He hadn't believed that it could transform into any scenario. He could only stare around the clearing in amazement of what kind of magic it must have taken to have a room that had these capabilities.

He heard a chuckle from behind him and turned to be met with the visage of a grinning Rowena. "It never stops amusing me to see my students faces the first time they see what this room can do. Now, first lesson. Hit me. Do anything you can think of to land a hit on me."

Hadrian looked at her confused. 'How is hitting her suppo…' He quickly had to roll to the right to dodge a spell that was sent whizzing where his head had been. "Tip one. Don't take your eyes off or lose a sense of where you opponent is. It could be costly." She said as she stood calmly on the other side of the clearing. His wand slid down into his hand from his holster. He could see a challenging smirk upon his teacher's face. He sent a couple of weak spells at her as a distraction. Although he didn't expect them to hit, he wasn't expecting her to swat them away with her bare hands like they were pesky flies.

He guessed his surprise showed upon his face. "The room doesn't give me any extra abilities. Anything that you see me use is a skill that I had when I was alive or have since picked up after my death."

Hadrian ground his teeth. It seemed like she was mocking him. Everything she did seemed like it took little to no effort. If she wanted to give him the advantage, he would take it. He immediately went on the offensive. Cutting curses along with bludgeoners made their way through the air towards Rowena who, once again, swatted them away. Hadrian growled before changing tactics. He shot a powerful exploding curse halfway between the two of them to create a large smokescreen, as well as thousands of weapons. He sent an area of effect banishing charm towards the cloud of dust and pushed all of the small rocks towards Rowena at high speeds. The branches on the tree to the left of him shot towards him at a high velocity.

Hadrian slashed his wand to cut all of the branches and then exploded the tree for good measure. He turned to face his teacher who was standing in nearly the same place. She had a grin on her face as she waited for him. "After centuries of being asleep, it feels good to stretch my legs." She said as Hadrian took to the offensive once again.

Hadrian was shooting spells at a rapid face, trying to get any reaction from his teacher. Cutting, piercing, reductor, and stunning spells were all shot at high rates and speeds to try and give him an opening. The spells were just being swatted away like nothing one after the next. He rose two stones from the ground and transfigured them into jaguars before sending them at the target of his annoyance. They were swiftly taken care of by a slash of Rowena's arm as a ribbon cutting curse took care of the transfigured animals. The arm quickly came back and a large wall of air came screaming at Hadrian.

The wall of air slammed into Hadrian and lifted him off of the ground. His wand came flying out of his hand and clattered as it landed. Hadrian let out a groan as the air left his body from the impact of him meeting the ground. He slowly pushed himself into a sitting position with a grunt of pain. He gingerly got back to his feet and saw his teacher, or his torturer, it could have been either one. She was standing there casually twirling his wand like one would when errantly spinning a pen through their fingers. The sight started to stoke the fires of anger within him. While he might not have needed his wand to actually do magic, he wasn't ok with someone treating it in such a mundane manner. He especially wasn't ok with it being taken from him.

The river exploded with movement and surged towards the Hogwarts founder. A glint grew in her eyes as she saw the water coming towards her. "Good. I don't have to teach you wandless magic from scratch. This will be a lot easier. She said as she lifted herself above the surging wave. It followed her around the air before Hadrian made it surround her. It started to shrink in size before there was a blast of air that completely destroyed the ball of water. Hadrian regrouped the water and had it flying around the air before it froze in place and in temperature. He shattered it into small pieces before sending a barrage of thousands of little ice shards. His teacher created a ball of wind around herself that rerouted all shards around her body and made them fly in a different direction.

Hadrian was trying to come up with a strategy when he felt the winds pick up. He gulped when he saw a small tornado coming towards him and had no counter when it pulled him into the air. He was tossed around like a ragdoll within the tornado for about ten seconds before he was forcefully ejected and was sent skipping across the ground. When he was able to raise his head, the last thing he saw was a red light before oblivion took him.

Hadrian woke up in the room the way it had been when he had arrived excluding the bed which he was currently situated on. He pushed himself into a sitting position with his back against the headboard. He was pleasantly surprised when he didn't feel any pain with his movements. He saw his teacher waiting patiently in a chair next to his bed and knew she had something to do with it. "I healed your wounds. It wouldn't be good if you had to go to the school's nurse every time we had a spar." Hadrian nodded at her gratefully. "Now, what did you learn from our spar?"

Hadrian wanted to reply with a smartass comment but decided to reel it back when he saw the sharp look on her face. He then thought about the fight. "I couldn't get anything past your defense. The way you guarded yourself was beyond anything I have ever gone against."

"That wasn't what I wanted you to take away from this." Hadrian looked at her confused. "You lost because of your arrogance and your small variations of a single strategy. You had the look of one who expected to complete the task given to him no matter what would come at him. You use your high-speed casting and spell velocity paired with your magical strength to overwhelm your opponent or use your elemental powers in the case of a losing fight to turn the tide. You only changed this strategy by trying to cover my vision or use transfiguration to distract me. This was defeated because I could hold my ground against what you were throwing at me. I have no doubt that this strategy would rip through most anybody's defense. The amount of strength behind the spells as well as the amount of damage it was cause if one even grazed the target leaves me with no doubt that it would cause large amounts of pain or damage."

Hadrian soaked in the criticism with a chastised look while Rowena plowed on with her analysis and advice. "The difference between them and me is that I have the power to withstand what you are throwing at me. There is a reason the wizards and witches who reach the top of the power structure are not stuck to one strategy. They are able to analyze and react to almost all situations and come up with a new strategy for what they are facing. They might have a common base form which is then changed within each and every fight so that the situation favors them. Your offense wasn't working and yet you kept trying it. you tried small variations with no more effectiveness than your first strategy and then tried to overpower me with a power that I have had almost a millennium to understand."

Hadrian could see what she was talking about. In his career, he had never had someone that he couldn't outduel. His skill with magic had won him every fight and his strategy had stagnated into something that worked for a vast majority. Now he was faced with the minority and the only thing he contributed to that fight was being a human punching bag. "What would you have done to win?" he asked. His voice was humble in light of his recent loss and the stripping down of his pride.

"I would have done the smart thing in that situation. Can you guess what that is?" Hadrian shook his head. "I wouldn't have taken the fight. There is no shame in admitting that someone else is stronger than you. It is highly improbable that you are the strongest person in the world. There is only one out of the billions of people. Even then, they can be taken down by a group of people. You could have given up the fight or tried to escape. Being smart and escaping to come back another day isn't something that should bring great shame. It is the smart move. I would have accepted your yield and we could have worked on honing your powers. Instead you wanted to use a hammer to try to break into Gringotts. It was useless in its attempt and useful in its lesson. Be sure you can win when you take a fight."

"What would we have worked on?" Hadrian asked. He wanted to know more about his powers.

"Your elemental powers. You aren't using them at full capacity yet, not that I expected you to. It took me many years to figure out how to use my most efficiently. I didn't have anyone to show me the way. But I am here and I am your teacher. Make use of it."

"How could I reach the level of ease that you showed during our fight? You seemed to put no effort into controlling your element, yet you were doing feats that I couldn't break through or stop." Hadrian asked. He wanted to know what he had been doing wrong.

"You were commanding the water during our fight. That is an inefficient way of using our powers. It is how ordinary wizards use their powers. Forcing their will onto things outside of their regular control. Elementals are different, we are what we control. The air didn't create a tornado because I controlled it to do so. I was the tornado and the air is an extension of myself. I don't expect you to understand. It is an odd concept that you will come to understand in time. It requires you to retrain your thought process. It is what we will be learning more of during the year. But I think that this was enough for one day." She held out his wand towards him and he accepted it gratefully. "I await your return." She said before her body faded out.

Hadrian swung his legs over the edge of the bed and made his way to the door. He made his way out of the room and to where his guest room was. He greeted Eldric and entered his room. He slowly sunk into his mind to review all that he had learned today


	13. The First Task

**Disclaimer: obviously, I only own the idea of my story and not that of the original author of this series.**

 _'French thoughts'_

 _"French speech"_

'English thoughts'

"English speech"

§parseltounge§

This method is reversed in flashbacks

Not even going to try putting French accents into the English portions

Sorry I didn't get anything out over the Holidays. Hope this makes up for it.

Chapter 13: The First Task

Hadrian's feet led him to the library. He had to keep up appearances for why he was at this school. He would spend a few hours looking through magical theory or runes. He would then slip away to go learn from Rowena. He had actually started to get lessons about his power rather than his attitude. It didn't mean that he was getting any better though. He was currently sitting with his eyes closed in the middle of the clearing where he had his first spar with Rowena, well, more like one sided beating. A gentle wind blew through his hair and gave him a sense that he was in nature.

"Let yourself go. You are not the total sum of your body. Extend out a **feel**. Your element and mine are the easiest. They are always around us at our disposal. They run through us and are part of our very being. Just like air, there is water all around you. Let yourself extend beyond. Magic has no boundaries except what you allow it. Magic has no body. What it can sense is not limited to the nerves within your body."

Hadrian tried. He had been trying for the past few days. The result was always the same. He wasn't able to sense anything. The lack of progress was frustrating him. He was used to understanding magic. it was something he excelled at. Learning something from theory and crafting it to his own use. The irritation must have showed on his face.

"Calm yourself and let your magic flow. Anger is a useful tool to make magic stronger, but it also makes it more volatile. It is much harder to maintain control when one is angry."

Hadrian nodded and took a deep breath. With the release, he let all the tension in his body flow away. He let his magic flow out and tried to let his mind follow. The only thing he could feel was his own magic being released, not anything like the details Rowena was able to see when she used this tactic. He sat there waiting to feel something, anything. He repeated his attempt, again and again to no avail. It was after a couple of hours of fruitless attempts that Rowena called an end to it. Hadrian gave a huff, his face contorted in annoyance. It had been a few days of him trying to learn this kind of magic and not getting anywhere. It would then be called and Rowena would help him perfect and expand upon the magic that he knew currently, whether that be elemental or any miscellaneous magic.

Hadrian opened his eyes and rose from his position. He stood facing his teacher, waiting for what she would help him with today. She looked at him with a knowing look, about what he had no idea. "We are going to be working with repelling fire." She stated.

Hadrian just looked at her confused. Fire was naturally beat by water. He had no clue as to why she thought he needed this. What was fire going to do. He looked around the settings as he saw the room changing to the owner's desire. It was a small island of rock in the middle of a hexagon of spouts hanging off of a metal ring holding them a few feet above his head. There was no water anywhere to be seen in this environment. Rowena flew to the top of one of the spouts and perched herself there.

"We will be practicing against the element you are strong against without your element being readily available. As an added bonus, the fire will dry out the air making it lose its moisture. How long can you keep up your shielding?"

Hadrian calmed his breathing and felt out with his magic. he could feel the magic within each of the spouts, six in total shaped in a hexagon around him, all currently docile. He felt the one to his front left side charge for a split-second before releasing a small stream of fire in his direction. It was relatively small compared to some of the flame spells that had been cast at him in the part. He conjured a wall of water to block it. Some of the water became steam from the heat and he was left with about half of what he had conjured. He waited a few seconds before feeling the one to his back right have a small build up of magic before discharging it at him. He spun on his heel and moved the left-over water from the last wall and conjured what else he needed. With a shorter break, the spout that he had originally been facing released a larger burst of flame.

This pattern continued as the time wore on. The flames came faster and at a larger amount. Five minutes into this exercise had Hadrian drenched in sweat as he spun in place to dodge the next torrent of fire being released. He was in constant motion. When one flame would be blocked, another would be sent in his direction. It was taking an exponential more amount of magic as all the water vapor that had initially been in the air had been evaporated from the continuous heat. He could feel the drain on his magic every time he made a shield. The current amount of water for each shield was almost three times as much as he had needed for the initial ones. He was also hampered by the fact that he couldn't see. For every was that he conjured, it made the wall of steam that shrouded his vision that much stronger. He was currently at the point where the thickness of the steam was making so that he was unable to see any of the spouts. He closed his eyes and focused more on his magic to compensate. Wall after wall was created to protect himself as he flowed from one position to the next. It was as if he was dancing with the fire.

Rowena was floating over the island with her eyes closed, using her magic to survey her student's work. She could feel his magic getting lower and his movements getting sluggish but despite all that she had a small, proud smile upon her face unseen by anybody.

Hadrian was getting tired, it was getting harder to keep getting enough oxygen to move his body at this pace. His breathing was heavy and his magic was dwindling. He could feel his reserves getting quite low and decided to end this training, whether it would piss Rowena off or not. He focused on conjuring as much water as possible before raising a majority of it above the flames where they would not be evaporated. He split his focus between shielding himself and turning the blob of water into six large lances. He could feel his reserves plummeting. He finally finished shaping and freezing the lances. He was running on fumes at this point. He used close to the rest of his magic to shoot the lances at high speeds down the mouth of the spouts and to shatter them into pieces that landed with soft clinks all around him.

His legs wobbled before he fell to the rocky ground below him. The rock felt warm, like it had been sitting in the sun for a while, but Hadrian couldn't find it in himself to care. He was sprawled out on the ground trying to catch his breath with his eyes feeling like someone had glued them shut. Once he had got enough back he started to chuckle. His chuckle then turned to a full-blown laugh. He couldn't remember the last time he was pushed this far. The werewolves had knocked him out due to injuries and Rowena had just outclassed him in every way. He hadn't actually been pushed to his limits trying to do anything. He had forgotten how fulfilling it was to win right at the end. He could feel the air rustle around him and forced his eyes to open just a sliver. He could blearily see Rowena floating down towards him. His eyes shut themselves against his will as he felt Rowena place a hand on his head and comb it through his hair. He could feel the earthy feel of the floor being replaced with the feeling a carpeting.

"I think we can end our training there for the day. Get some rest child." She said in the gentlest voice he had heard out of her yet. Hadrian couldn't find it in himself to refuse the request and quickly found himself fading away.

Rowena looked down at the young child she had chosen to mentor. He wasn't perfect, no one was, but he had the will to continue. The will to change the world if need be and she would help him with his initial steps. She gently picked him up and willed the room to change into a large bedroom. She walked across the shifting floor to the place that she had desired the bed. She deftly put the child down and looked upon him as one would a son. She hadn't had any human interaction in centuries and her maternal instincts were flaring up. She figured it was her mind trying to fill the void of the daughter she failed to properly mother. She soon faded away, the body this room provided no longer needed.

Hadrian woke to aches and pains that emanated from his sore muscles. His entire body ached and he didn't feel like moving. His body was screaming in protest when he tried to push himself into a seating position. He pried open his eyes, which in reality didn't change what he saw. He was still surrounded by darkness and summoned a small light in the palm of his hand. He checked the time to see that it was the middle of the night, nearing 2 in the morning. He fell back into the pillows with a groan. He new he should be getting back to his room, but his body made no movement for that notion. He continued to rest on the bed until he was brought out of his thoughts by a hand stroking through his hair. He reopened his eyes to be met with the sight of Rowena standing over him. His eyes shut themselves as he leaned into the hand.

"I pushed you a little hard, didn't I?" Rowena asked in a caring tone.

"Harder than I might have liked, but not harder than you know was needed. I know you wouldn't push for something that wasn't a necessity." Hadrian replied. And it was true. Everything that Rowena had taught him so far, whether it was spells or methods, were almost immediately useful to anything he was doing. Most spells improved his fighting style or helped him broaden it while the magical methods helped his magic get used faster.

"In any case, I won't be teaching you as much for the rest of the few days before the first task." She held up her hand to stall any complaint. "I want your body and magic to be in peak condition for when it starts. Going against a dragon is never easy." Hadrian's eyes widened at that comment. That's why she had him protecting against the fire. His mind started racing towards what he thought the task might hold with such a creature.

"I will still help you with any knowledge you might be seeking, if you need my help. My door is always open unless I say otherwise. Go show them what my apprentice can do. But for now, rest. I can see that you need it."

Hadrian nodded. He could feel sleep coming back to claim him again. His body couldn't seem to agree with his choice to lie still once more.

Dumbledore sat in his office with his forehead resting in his hands while his thumbs massaged his temples. His annoyance was rising slightly each day. The youngest Potter was not helping anything. He seemed to spend a few hours in the library every morning like Hadrian had told him he would. Then for the afternoon he seemed to disappear. None of the portraits or ghosts reported seeing him going anywhere. That was another thing. There were hundreds, if not thousands, of portraits around the castle, yet none of them seemed to be capable of telling him where the child went. There was also the problem of some of the wards becoming more self-active. Dumbledore had been in control of the wards for over four decades and had gotten intimately familiar with the feel of the wards. Now they seemed to want to be under less of an iron grip. He had briefly pursued the thought that Hadrian had been trying to wrestle control of the wards away from him and dismissed it almost as quickly. If he had any hereditary claim to the castle, then so would James and Thomas. It also didn't feel like someone grabbing the controls away from him, it just felt like he had sand in his hand and some of it slipped out and nobody noticed except for the almost negligible feel of it sliding out of one's hand.

The aged wizard let out a sigh. And that was only the beginning. Lily had been pestering him every so often to see if he could set up a one on one meeting between herself and Hadrian. He didn't think that was the best idea. While he could see that she truly was repentant as well as angry and disappointed in herself, he didn't think Hadrian was in the right state to forgive them. The feeling of betrayal might have lessened when he was missing for all of those years, but having to see them again must have opened up old wounds that he would have rather left alone. The only time a meeting could go well for Lily was either when Hadrian decided to forgive his family or he had become desensitized to their presence and could stand them long enough without getting angry. That wouldn't happen if he was never in their presence though. Which was why he was trying to find out what Hadrian was doing with the latter half of his day.

The wizened old man would have liked to manufacture some meetings to see if he could try to gently pull the young wizard toward the light side. They would need Hadrian in the coming war. He would be able to save countless lives while Thomas faced down Voldemort. He was confident that with the two Potter siblings, magical Britain would be in a well of place.

"What about you Fawkes? Any brilliant ideas come to you?"

The immortal bird let out a small trill that eased his mind, but did nothing to put any idea in it.

"That's what I thought. Thanks anyway Fawkes." He reached over to stroke the bird's neck as the Fawkes leaned into it. Dumbledore fell back into his thoughts on the state of various things.

The few days that were left before the task went by quickly for Hadrian. He had been spending more time in the library looking at books about dragons, as well as magic that wasn't directly at a dragon. He had taken to the tactic of landscape transfiguration and manipulation and got Rowena's help in the nuances of the subject. Mostly she helped on the manipulation side. It was strange to manipulate rock. Water came to him easily, while trying to manipulate rock just seemed to give him trouble. He had thought some of the practices would have transferred over. He instead found out that they were completely separate. Water was fluid and able to become anything it was needed. The earth was unyielding and needed to be forced to obey. It was much easier to just break the rock around the shape he wanted from the earth rather than try to make it bend to his will.

His time with Rowena was short for those next few days and in no time the morning of the task was upon him. He had woken up early, his mind restless for the task to come. He went through his morning rituals and started to ease his magic out of the slumber it was in. He gently made it flow through his body and enjoyed the feel of his magic. It was euphoric to be so in tune with his magic. He started to place his dragon armor on, not that he thought it would do much if he got hit directly by fire, but he hoped that it might help with any potential impact. Hadrian let the magic fade back into a state slightly above restless and walked out the door, waved to Eldric, and made his way to the great hall.

The number of students who were down at breakfast this early was slightly surprising to Hadrian. There were three or four times the usual number of students who currently out than were usually out. He guessed he wasn't the only one anxious for the task. He grabbed a seat at the Ravenclaw table and proceeded to grab some sausage and egg. He didn't want too large of a breakfast to slow him down.

He quickly ate what was on his plate and took the time to look for the other champions. The Beauxbatons and Durmstrang champion were not to be found in the great hall which wasn't all that surprising. He assumed that they were getting some more customary food and well as tips from their heads of schools. He doubted that Madame Maxime and Karkaroff cared for the rule that teachers were supposed to be of no help to their champions. Rowena had told him about the intense rivalries between the schools from the previous tournaments. He moved his eyes to the Hufflepuff table where he could see the true Hogwarts champion surrounded by admirers and well-wishers. Hadrian could see Cedric was trying to put on a brave face for his friends, but Hadrian could see the look in his eyes. They held trepidation and apprehension which were well founded. The champions might be the best that their schools had to offer, but none of the schools had any dragon handling and definitely not enough magic to take down a dragon.

His gaze trailed to where his twin was resting with a slightly content look on his face from the food he had just consumed. He was completely relaxed, like he had this in the bag.

'That's arrogant and stupid.' Hadrian thought. The boy might be above anyone in his year due to the time that Dumbledore had put into him, it didn't mean that he had all of the skills to finish this task easily. The Weasley was sitting on his right side, talking into his ear with his mouth full. Hadrian averted his gaze when his eyes fell onto the boy with terrible manners. It was enough that he wouldn't have wanted to eat more if he hadn't finished his breakfast. He started to mentally go through the tactics he was preparing to use later in the day.

Time dragged on and the sun rose higher into the sky. A few people had looked at Hadrian, but no one had made any move to talk to or bother him. He was quite content to sit there until he saw the elderly professor that had yelled at him on his first visit to Hogwarts. She walked up to him in a way that could only be described as a prowl. "Mister Potter. You are requested to join the rest of the champions at the champion tent in fifteen minutes so that the task may be explained to you." She gave him the directions to the stadium, which was a little way up a hill away from all of the main parts of Hogwarts. He stood a began his trip to the tent. He walked out the front doors and into the morning air and noticed the sharp drop in noise coming from the great hall. He continued on his path and enjoyed the peace and quiet while it lasted.

He eventually made it to the tent and found that he was the second to last one to arrive, with only his brother being absent. There was a man with a top hat sitting in the corner of the room, surveying the champions. Hadrian could see the other three champions were feeling the nerves with the task so close, and Hadrian couldn't deny that he could feel them. While he was confident that he could get this done with little harm to himself, he had never done it before and was eating at him. Only a minute or two later the tent flaps were lifted to reveal the older Potter twin. He was soon followed in by a man with a horrid yellow and black jacket accompanied by a jovial grin, one that looked like a kid in a candy shop.

"Good morning champions. My name is Ludo Bagman and I will be one of your judges and commentator today. Is everyone excited?" he stated in a jubilant tone. He was met with various noncommittal answers from the champions except for Thomas who puffed out his chest.

"I am." He said in a pompous voice and looked around like he was going to get some applause. He deflated slightly when the people in the room gave him no positive reaction to his theatrics, but shrugged it off to pay attention to Bagman again.

"The first task is to test for your daring and ability to think on your feet. We have five dragons, one for each of you." He said dramatically. The news surprised none of the champions and Bagman looked slightly put out that he didn't get to see the reactions of surprised teenagers. "The dragons will be guarding a nest of eggs, one of which does not belong. Your task is to retrieve the golden egg without harming the real ones. The golden egg holds the clue for the next task and you will be lost without it. Are we clear on the rules?"

Hadrian thought that the British Ministry employees were complete idiots. Having nesting mothers against students was truly stupid. Hadrian was also against putting the eggs in danger. The dragon species were already so limited that it was stupid to put the at further risk. These thoughts flitted through his mind before going away so that he could listen to the tournament organizers.

When all the champions gave an affirmative answer, the man in the corner stood up while holding a bag as Bagman left the tent. "You should remember that my name is Barty Crouch from the Halloween feast and I am also a judge. This bag contains five model dragons, each holding a number upon their collar. The number upon the collar is the one that you will be facing." His voice was much more grave and serious than his predecessor. He held out the bag towards Fleur. "Ladies first." he stated.

The Veela reached into the bag and pulled out a small green dragon that released a minute amount of fire. Attached to the collar around its neck was the number two. Fleur looked rather relieved at the dragon she got. "The common welsh green." He stated before moving over to Krum.

He held the back out and the professional seeker tentatively reached his hand into the bag and pulled out a red dragon which held the number three. "The Chinese fireball. Oooooo." Hadrian inwardly snorted at that. It seemed like he was told to be happier by a superior but he had never learned how to be happy. He continued to watch as the bag went to Cedric next.

Cedric stuck his hand into the offered bag and pulled out a grey looking dragon with the number one. Cedric had a similar relieved look on his face that Fleur did. "The Swedish Short-Snout."

He moved onto Thomas and held out the bag. The look Thomas held had gotten progressively worse as the other champions had picked out their dragons. He reached in and pulled out a grey dragon with spikes covering its body. It held the number four attached to its collar. "The Hungarian Horntail. Daresay the nastiest breed we have at the tournament." Thomas' face turned slightly green. It seemed like he thought he would be getting an easier dragon and Hadrian couldn't help but chuckle at his misfortune. Thomas threw a dirty look at his twin and moved to the other side of the room.

The bag was the placed in front of Hadrian and he thought it was a useless gesture. Whatever was in there was what he was going to go against. He reached in a pulled a dragon larger than the other models. It held the number five. "The Ukrainian Iron-Belly. The largest species of dragons. That concludes our picking of the dragons. First up will be Mister Diggory followed by Miss Fleur. The third will be Mister Krum being tailed by Thomas Potter where Hadrian Potter will follow as the last contestant. A horn will signal that the champion facing the dragon has finished. The next contestant will walk into this small, separated, part of the tent and wait for the cannon to be fired before proceeding into the arena. I wish you all the best of luck. Mister Diggory." He ended with a pointing at the small area where Cedric was to wait.

He didn't have to wait long for the cannon to blow and Hadrian heard the roar of the crowd. He could only imagine the thoughts flying through Cedric's head. He fell back to thinking about what he knew about Ukrainian Iron-Bellies and it wasn't much. Just that they were the largest breed of dragons and had the hottest fire. They were also the most resistant to magic and was why most dragon armor was made from that species. It's what his was made out of. But this dragon shared the weakness of all dragons. The eye was still the most vulnerable place. It was also the slowest dragon physically, making it rely more on its fire that its physical prowess to fight against wizards.

The champion tent had been lapsed into silence with only the slight sound of Fleur's feet against the carpet as she paced back and forth. It was somewhere between ten to fifteen minutes that they heard the horn blow, signaling the completion of Cedric's task. Fleur looked a lot more shaken now than she did when she pulled the dragon out of the bag. She raised the flap to go into the small room and the sound of the crowd permeated through the tent before disappearing as the flap went back to closed.

Hadrian contemplated about Fleur. It would be a shame for him to save her only for her to die in this tournament. He wondered what happened to the people behind the attack. They must have slunk back into their holes until another opportunity provided itself. Hogwarts was too secure to break into to try an attack like the one they had tried at the World Cup. He went back to waiting his turn and looked at his brother. He seemed to be getting paler as the time wore on, losing the confidence and bravado he had been showcasing at breakfast.

The blast of a cannon went through the air signaling the start of Fleur's attempt. The time dragged on as one by one the champions filtered to go face their dragons. By the time Thomas had left, the tent was completely silent except for the very light breathing coming from Hadrian. The time from the cannon to horn for Thomas was somewhere slightly above twenty minutes. That meant it was about tot be his turn. He left to the small room leading into the stadium and was assaulted by the sounds of the crowd and Bagman.

"Thomas Potter finishes in just above twenty minutes with good use of transfiguration to have multiple animals run and grab the egg to him. Unfortunately, he got hurt while trying to distract for his animals and has received a total of 34 points." Hadrian thought that transfiguration was the most likely route for Thomas. Both his father and mentor were transfiguration prodigies and it figured some of that talent would rub off onto his brother.

"Our final competitor is none other than our Boy-Who-Live's brother, Hadrian Potter. Hadrian grimaced at that introduction for two reasons. The first is that it connected him to the Potters more and the second was that it made it sound like Thomas was above him, like he needed something to introduce him. He would dismiss them of that notion soon. He waited a few minutes longer than what the other champions did between their finishes and Hadrian could tell the reason. He could hear the dragon trainers having trouble dealing with the Horntail. When the sounds of the dragon went away he didn't have to wait long for his turn to come.

"We are about to get underway in 3…2…1…" The sound of the cannon firing caused him to walk slowly into the arena where he took stack of the dragon that stood hunched over its clutch of eggs. It looked around confusedly at the roaring crowd and then zeroed in on Hadrian, as he was the closest to its eggs. Hadrian felt bad he had to do this, the mother was just trying to protect her children and she was being used as sport. As one who had a more absentee mother, he would have given much to have one that protected him as fiercely as this dragon protected her children. "I'm sorry." He muttered under his breath before he made his way farther into the arena.

The dragon gave out a warning screech which was ignored by Hadrian as he continued to get closer. The dragon was hunched over its eggs looking menacingly at Hadrian. It then reeled back slightly and released a torrent of flame in Hadrian's direction. He summoned a large amount of water to protect him from the assault as he calmly walked take an earthen barrier so that he could start his work. The roars from the crowd and the sound of Ludo's booming voice faded into the background as he started to channel his magic. He forced more of the earth around him to make his protection larger and started to manipulate the rock from the ground around the dragon. Huge earthen chains, close to five feet in circumference started to be created. Now was the tricky part. He had to keep the dragon's attention so that he could get the chains on easier.

He made the portion of ground he was standing on raise to the top of the barrier and started to fire spells at the dragon. They didn't do anything other than be annoyances to the dragon, but the threat to the eggs was very real which was why Hadrian aimed up at the dragon's belly. He continued to fire annoyances at the dragon while the chains coiled through the air, just far enough away from the dragon's body to not be hit but too close to be seen if it didn't look down. This went on for a couple of minutes before all of the chains had gotten to the correct places. Similar to a snake attack, the chains coiled all over the dragon and son slither over its snout to stop it from breathing fire. It was thrashing against the chains but was careful to keep herself away from her children.

Hadrian anchored the chains into the ground and slowly began to lower it till it was laying down. He was careful to avoid the eggs as he did so. He had no desire to crush the eggs, point deduction or not. The dragon was now growling and it only increased as Hadrian made his way towards the dragon's eggs. The dragon thrashed as hard as it could but the chains held. He could feel his reserves draining from his constant hold and bolstering of the chains. He grabbed the golden egg and started leave. A sudden thought came to him as he was walking towards the exit from the arena. He walked to the ear of the dragon and leaned into it. §I'm sorry. I didn't take any of your eggs this one was a fake. I didn't want to hurt you and I'm sorry of the position you were put in.§ He held out the golden in front of the dragon's eyes so that it could see it was not one of its own. The dragon started to calm down and Hadrian didn't know if it could understand him or just saw that it wasn't his egg. Either way, it helped the mother find some peace. He continued his way out of the arena and held the egg up to be greeted by the thunderous applause of the crowd.


	14. After the Task

_'French thoughts'_

 _"French speech"_

'English thoughts'

"English speech"

§parseltounge§

This method is reversed in flashbacks

Not even going to try putting French accents into the English portions

Sorry for not updating in a while, I kind of lost the will for this story for a bit but hopefully will be up for more updates soon.

I apologize to the one person who PM'd me after the previous chapter. I only use this account to post stories and only log onto it when I am posting a chapter so the frequency of me checking is very low.

Chapter 14: After the Task

"And we have our final champion completing the first task in the fastest time of the day. Using earth transfiguration and manipulation he was able to trap the dragon beneath a load of heavy chains and did this without taking suffering any significant harm from the dragon. Let's see what the judges have for us." Bagman's voice boomed over the crowd, curtesy of the _sonorous_ charm.

Hadrian let the magic he was holding on the chains fade away as he exited the stadium and could tell that the chains had crumbled by the rumbles made from the dragon's movements.

Crouch pointed his wand straight up and conjured a ribbon that twirled itself into a ten. Bagman followed the man and gave Hadrian a nine. Karkaroff threw up a six. 'I don't get why they have the heads of the competing schools as judges. It doesn't lend them to being impartial as a judge should be.' Hadrian thought bitterly. If he was going to be forced to compete in this tournament, the least they could do was treat him fairly. Madame Maxime threw up a twisting eight. The final score came from Dumbledore and followed Crouch in giving him a double-digit score.

"And there you have it folks. The youngest competitor has managed to score a 43, the highest of the day. The current points have Hadrian Potter sitting in first with 43 points, being trailed by Viktor Krum with 40. Cedric Diggory sits in the middle with a collective 38 points and down by a miniscule margin is Fleur Delacour with 37 points. That means Thomas Potter falls into the last place position with 34 points." There was a collective groan from the Gryffindor portion of the crowd as the last bit of information was made known.

There was a large rumbling as the students and spectators started to get up from their seats to make their way back to the castle. Hadrian was ushered from his place near the edge of the arena towards a tent with a with a picture of a staff with coiled snakes on it. He resigned himself to getting a once over, mostly because he knew no one would let him go until they had checked to see whether he was in good health or not. He entered the tent to the and was immediately accosted by the healer who had taken care of him after he had first been brought to Hogwarts.

"Honestly, dragons. What were these people thinking." She muttered under her breath as her wand was a blur with the diagnostic spells she was placing on him. "Every year it gets worse. A three-headed dog, then something petrifying students, and let's not even mention the dementors last year." Hadrian highly doubted that the matron even knew she was voicing her thoughts as she seemed lost within her work. The part about the Cerberus was news to him. The other parts were old news. It was rather hard to hide the fact that students were getting petrified and infinitely more so to hide an order from the minister to place highly dangerous creatures around school children.

"It seems like you're fine." The matron said curtly. She seemed rather displeased that she had been unable to find something wrong with him. She pointed him to a set of chairs that held one occupant. "Sit. The judges will be coming to give you the date for the next task." She told him before leaving to help with the champions who were yet cleared.

Hadrian approached the seats and sank into one and sat in silence with Durmstrang's champion. He took the time to appraise how the other champions had fared in the task. Viktor and himself seemed be far the best off out of the five. The French champion seemed to be in the next best shape. Her hair was a little singed, and portions of the robes around her legs were burnt off with some of the exposed skin an angry red. Hadrian's eyes fell upon the two Hogwarts champions and he couldn't decided who looked worse. The older champion was sporting a large burn on one side of his body that had been covered in paste. It looked as if any movement seemed to exacerbate the pain that he was in. On the other hand, his brother was covered in tons of small lacerations as well a large one that was on his left arm. He also had a couple of blistering spotter where the fire had slipped through his defenses. Many of the small cuts seemed like they came from little bits of smashed rock while the large cut seemed like it came from the dragon itself. It must have been a rather close call with a swinging tail that his brother had endured and Hadrian couldn't help but feel a little smug at the pain his arsehole of a brother was going through. He hadn't been the best when they were kids, but he hadn't been the worst. The person that he had grown up to be just made it more satisfying when he was knocked down a peg.

"You performed very well." The heavily accented words broke into his thoughts and made him look at the champion sitting next to him. "You had good composure and lots of magical control, more than any of us had." Krum stated. Hadrian gave a small nod of thanks at the compliment from his fellow competitor.

"I can't say I had the pleasure of watching your attempt. From the looks of it, you didn't have to much of a problem with the task." Hadrian returned the compliment, and he meant it. Facing down a fully-grown dragon was a tough job if you were trained for it, it was extremely more impressive when someone who was still in school was able to bypass one. They settled back into a comfortable silence for close to twenty minutes before the rest of the champions were cleared from needing any immediate treatment. It wasn't long before Ludo and Crouch were back in front of the champions.

"Well done everyone for managing to complete the task to collect the golden egg. This egg contains the clue for the next task which will take place on the morning of the 24 of February. Figuring out the clue will be crucial to figuring what the next task will entail. I wish you all the best of luck in figuring it out." Ludo said in his chipper voice before the two ministry officials took their leave and made their way out of the tent. Hadrian, Krum and Fleur made their way back to the castle while the two Hogwarts champions were floated back on stretchers so as not to further aggravate their injuries.

Hadrian made a beeline for his room before murmuring the password to Eldric and walking into the room. Almost immediately, Hadrian collapsed onto the bed. He had tried to keep up the image that the task hadn't bothered him, but that wasn't true. The amount of magic he had needed to make and manipulate the chains, not to mention to continually reinforce them against the physically strongest dragon, was immense. It helped that he had been able to rest a small amount after the task, but it was going to take a good night's rest before he felt back to full strength. He didn't even bother to get rid of the robes he was wearing and just fell into a dreamless sleep.

When Hadrian woke it was to the permeating darkness of night. He used the tempus spell to check the time and saw that it was a quarter past eight. He would have to hurry down to the hall if he didn't want to miss the feast. Looking like he was in a trance-like state, he made his way out of his room and down a single flight of stairs. The cacophony of noise that was created from a feast hosting three schools raised in volume with each step he took towards the great hall. He looked around for a place that had a fair bit of space between his seat and any other people. He gave a light growl as he saw that there were no seats in the hall that matched this description and he resigned himself to having to potentially deal with the kids sitting around him. He looked around the hall and tried to decide where he wanted to sit. He ruled out Gryffindor as he really wasn't in the mood to deal with his brother. He then ruled out Hufflepuff as he didn't know the champion from that house that well. It was down to the Ravenclaw and Slytherin tables. His initial reaction was to go sit with the champion who he had a nice conversation with until he saw the person who had decided to get in his way when he first came to Hogwarts.

With his seating choice confirmed, he made his way to the table with a majority of students who were wearing robes that had blue and bronze lining, although there were a fair few students in the pale blue of Beauxbatons. He sat down of a portion of the bench with as much room between him and each person on either side of him as he could find. He grabbed a plate and took out his wand to float his desired food items out of their containers and onto his plate. Still half dead, he started to voraciously tear into the chicken and bread rolls that he had piled onto his plate. So consumed in sating his hunger that he didn't notice the voices around him start to quiet down before fading away all together. Some, like the Ravenclaws of the who had no stake in the tournament, were looking on in fascination as more and more food was piled into this scrawny young man. Others, such as the Beauxbatons students looked offended that he would even dare sit at the table the French school had accommodated as their own.

All but one had that look upon their face. Fleur Delacour sat there with a grudging look of respect on her face. She had seen Hadrian perform the task and could see that it hadn't taken him nearly as much effort as she had to use to subdue her dragon and he hadn't taken any damage from the dragon he had faced. Just thinking about the burns she had received made her skin itch where the burns were still not fully healed. The paste had done wonders, although it was still too soon to for it to completely negate the damage the dragon fire had done. Due to being a creature of fire herself she would heal faster than the Hogwarts champion, though it would still be uncomfortable for the next day or two. She didn't judge a person's skill based on age anymore. That preconception had been smacked out of her head, both metaphorically and literally.

Hadrian continued to stuff his gut with as much food as he could handle and would have kept going if not for the prominent clearing of a throat from behind him. He paused from inhaling his food as if it was the air he breathed and turned to look at the group of three witches dressed in Beauxbatons uniforms.

"This is our table." The middle one out of the three stated with an air of haughtiness flowing around her being. Hadrian decided to ignore the group and turned back to his meal. After all, they had only made a statement. It might have been different should they have actually have posed a question or made a demand. He had just grabbed his next peace of bread when he heard the same clearing of the throat from before, only now it was slightly more pronounced. The only signs of annoyance came from the slight narrowing of his eyes. He didn't want to have to deal with morons, they were always too stupid for their own good.

He turned around and started to output a menacing aura before responding to the girl. "Is there something that I can help you with?" his voice was as frigid as the north pole. The girl seemed to take a pause before continuing on with her planned speech, although it had a fair amount of trepidation added to it. Out of the corner of his eye, Hadrian could see Dumbledore had stopped eating when he had decided to release some of his aura. The headmaster seemed content to observe for now, but he assumed that would change should any magic be introduced into the argument.

"What are you doing at our table? I know you saw us when you walked in." she stated. Hadrian could see some disapproving looks from the Ravenclaws that were seated near the argument. It seemed as if they didn't approve of someone thinking they could claim something of theirs. Hadrian gave an internal smile. The girls had given him an opportunity to get on the good books of a house so that they would at least leave him alone for anything he was doing. He also felt irritation at the fact that anyone would claim something that was Rowena's. His face remained unchanged as he looked at the three faces in front of him and felt for their magic and dismissed them almost as quickly as his search had begun. They were irrelevant in any outside of being annoyances to him.

"Did you bring this table from France?" he asked and continued on before they had a chance to answer. "Let me help you with that answer. The answer is no you did not bring it from France. It has been sitting in this great hall for close to a millennium and yet you, who has been here for not four weeks has the gall to call it your own. If any group of people have to authority to call the table theirs, it would be the Ravenclaws who are here every year as well as it has the name the Ravenclaw table. If we were going to put the ownership of the table to one person, then that person would most likely be the headmaster of Hogwarts at that time. But I ultimately feel that Hogwarts itself owns the table. It has been here for many more years that you or I and will most likely be here when we are nutrients for the soil. Until the castle wards kick me out of my seat I will assume that the castle is ok with me sitting here, so sit down before you continue embarrassing yourself, your school, and your country." Hadrian finished with a harsh tone which had the girl opening and closing her mouth as she tried and failed to think of anything that could be said in return and stomped back to the place she had been eating before she had come to bother him.

Hadrian looked up and down the table to see some of the Ravenclaws had smirks on their faces. It seems that some of them were getting fed up with the French derision and haughtiness, but put up with it for the sake of international cooperation. His eyes fell upon one of the students a few seats away from his own who was quietly eating her meal. He had seen her almost every day on his trips to the library and had seen the look she had. The look of having given up on people to notice her. The same eyes he once had in Potter manor. He hated that look. It always made him remember his time of being a ghost in people's eyes. There but not noticed and generally forgotten about. Hadrian stayed as people trickled out and eventually the headmaster stood up and clapped his hands to grab the attention of the hall's occupants.

"I hope you all had a wonderful meal and am sad to say that the time for food has now passed." The food that had covered the table disappeared back to where it had come. "I would also like to congratulate the champions on their completion of a task that was no easy feat. I wish them the best of luck in figuring out the clue that has been given to them. Now I think I can hear the warm beds calling out for their users." He ended his little speech as the students still in the hall started to head for the exits. Hadrian decided to wait for a minute so that he would not be caught in the crowds as he wanted to go straight to Rowena to get started on the clue.

Before all of the students had made their way out of the hall, Hadrian could feel more than see the presence of the aged headmaster coming to a stop a short way behind him. He let out an internal groan at this. He was in no mood to deal with the over reaching headmaster. He was going to pretend to not notice the man and started to get up before the old Supreme Mugwump started to speak.

"That was a very impressive display that you had during the task Hadrian." The old man stated with his genial grandfatherly tone. "If I may ask, where did you learn those earth chains?" Dumbledore asked with some actual curiosity. He hadn't seen many modern wizards use any magic like that for a while. Manipulating physical objects while also imbuing magic into them was tiring and tricky, not to mention impossible to sustain. There is a reason no wands were made of rock after all.

Hadrian was annoyed that the headmaster decided to stoop him before he could leave. He decided to put on a large, and very fake, smile when he turned to speak to the headmaster. "I picked up a little over here and a little over there. I guess after a while I was able to put the various teachings together to do what I did. You seem surprised that I could do it. Are there not more people at this school who could accomplish this feat? I surely hope that the teaching has not become so subpar that a fourteen-year-old with minimal magical teachings would be able to do something past most of the seventh-year skill level." Hadrian mocked a bit at the end. He knew the magic was beyond what most adult wizards would ever learn but it was a lot more fun to hurl insults at the man who thought of himself above the rest.

"I do not think that this school has fallen in terms of standards. If you came around for the next year, I'm sure that we could show you what kind of school we are and what we have to offer." Dumbledore wove his words.

Hadrian put on a thinking face, as if he was seriously putting that idea into consideration. He looked around the hall to see that all the students and staff had left. Keeping the smile upon his face he then leaned in towards the elder wizard. "There are a few problems I see with that. The first and foremost is that this school is in Britain. Britain is one of the most stagnant and ignorant countries in all of Europe and one of the most oppressive pseudo-democracies that exists. While you hold elections for who gets to hold the office for minister, most if not all of the power lies within the hands of the Wizengamot which is almost completely made up of old families. Hence this country only has any real democracy for the people who can trace their family line back generations, or have been able to receive an Order of Merlin and are able to have a single vote. Even more, the only people who get to vote are the lords which means even members of old families are officially powerless within the government. Furthermore, many of the classes that were held decades ago have been removed. Warding and enchanting have gone as has dueling. How can you claim that this school has not dropped standards when it isn't even as good as it was when you went here? The courses you offer lead to such a narrow job pathway in the world that I'm actually surprised that Britain is even able to remain functioning. Add the fact that Britain is so insular and the students don't even know that they are missing anything. Lastly, most of the students are idiots. Whether it be the bigoted purebloods that spout that blood purity transfers to skill and power or the muggleborns who have no clue about this world with very little done to educate them. The oppression of the newer citizens by the upper class who is outnumbered 20 to 1 is bound to collapse at some point within the future." Hadrian started to return to his previous position away from Dumbledore, his grin becoming more feral as he did so. "Why would anyone want to come to a school like that?" he asked before heading out the door.

Dumbledore was too shocked to stop him before he had gone out of the great hall. Having his school's and nation's issues thrown at him threw him for a loop. Most people would have focused on the classes, but the youngest Potter threw in politics for good measure to get his point across. He had many good points about what was wrong with both things. Unfortunately, there was only so much Dumbledore could do himself to stop it. New classes would have to be approved by the board of governors and he knew that the purebloods would fight to keep knowledge out of the hands of muggleborns coming into their world. It was something that he had tried to implement a few times but had been denied at every turn. He sighed as he noticed that the person who had been holding his attention since the end of the first task had disappeared. He slowly and sullenly moved towards his office, mulling over the accusations and comments that the youngest Potter had said about his country and school.

The halls were empty after his little chat/rant with Dumbledore so he didn't need to watch where he was walking and just sunk into the feeling that the Hogwarts wards provided. Layer upon layer stacked over the centuries. All combining to create one of the most impressive ward schemes in modern history. It was almost possible to feel Rowena's desire to protect each and every student who passed through these halls. He reached his room and gave his password before quickly grabbing his egg and exiting. He made his way towards the seventh floor, this time being more cautious about anybody following. He could feel no one and made his way into the Room of Requirement before he was met with the room's creation of Rowena's body.

Rowena stood in the middle of the room with a small smile upon her face. She was happy to see her apprentice again. It always made her feel good to see children she taught become the wizards they could be if they just put in the effort. Her grin slowly turned into a smirk. "How did the task go? I can still hear gossip about it even now. It must have been something quite impressive if everyone is still talking about it." she stated.

Hadrian had a small smile on his face. While he had no doubt that he would be completing the task once he had heard what it was, it had gone without any significant trials or injuries. "It went as well as anyone could hope for. The dragon and the eggs remained unharmed and I only had to put up with a constant drain on my magic. Earthen chains kept it down once I was able to subdue it. The dragon seemed to lose most of its fight once it saw that I wasn't trying to hurt its young. I have no idea what the government was thinking by allowing teenagers to try to do a task that is usually handled by a dozen trained dragon handlers." Hadrian shook his head in disappointment

Rowena caught a glimpse of gold from inside of his cloak and pointed towards where it had just been. "I presume that is your reward for completing the task." She said before urging him. "Why not open it. It is supposed to help towards the next task and I may or may not have been renowned for my wisdom when I was still alive." She stated.

Hadrian gave a snort at her last comment before opening up a little. "I wanted to open it with you. You were the one who taught me a good portion of what I used and I thought it only appropriate to open it with my teacher." He said with sincerity. He bowed his head an almost imperceptible amount. He hadn't opened up to anybody in such a long time besides Sirius, although he didn't really count. He was somebody who had been in his life early, so it was more like a reconnection rather than opening to a new person.

Rowena's smile became warmer. She knew it hadn't been easy for Hadrian to admit that. He was someone who liked to bury his emotions deep inside, freeze them if you will. It was nice to know she had made enough of an impact on his life to at least let her in partially. "Then there is no time to waste. Let's hear that clue, shall we." She stated. Her apprentice raised the hand he had the egg in and moved his other to the clasp and started to turn it.

The instant Hadrian twisted the clasp, a loud screeching sound pierced his ears and he immediately dropped the egg in favor of shielding his ears from the demonic wailing. He peeked up to see Rowena and to his immense surprise, she was neither covering her ears nor trying to close the egg. Instead, she was looking at it with some interest that also held a sliver of boredom. After a good twenty seconds of wailing in which Hadrian dared not try to close it for fear of his poor eardrums and unwillingness to interrupt his teacher, Rowena walked over to the egg and closed it with a simple twist of the cap. Hadrian removed his hands and let out a small sigh of relief.

Hadrian looked expectantly towards the founder of Ravenclaw and only saw a small smirk upon her face. He hesitantly pushed his thoughts out, as if she might open the egg again if he was too loud. "So, what did it say?" he asked. She just looked at him with a smirk.

"Nothing of importance. Just the clue to the next task." She stated. Hadrian gained an annoyed look upon his face.

"How is that not important? There is a very real possibility that every single one of the people in the government organizing this event is a moron and the next task may have to possibility to kill me. How could something run by complete incompetency not be helped by knowing what's coming next. It seems to me that any scrap of information that I could get would be of use." He stated with a half angry half confused tone.

"It is unimportant because you will be the one to win the task. What you know plus what I have taught you will be enough for you to pass this task with flying colors. However, what type of teacher would I be if I just gave you all of the answers. You would learn nothing about the process of determining origins of things you might encounter and I would like you to have the experience of trial and error. Plus, I think it will be a good puzzle for you to work out. A benefit of this is that I will be able to work more on your element as well as other magic that has no need to focus upon the tasks themselves." She stated matter-of-factly throughout her whole statement. She seemed to be unfazed with his petulance, if not a small bit disappointed.

Hadrian went through his memories, but couldn't lock onto just one single thing that would say what the task was about. He couldn't think of just one thing that he had known exclusively before that had been furthered in skill by Rowena. 'Or maybe it was a combination' he thought. He gave up on that train of thought as it was going to get him nowhere. He then tried to search for anything that matched the sound of he had just heard and the only thing even remotely close to what that sounded like would have been a banshee. He highly doubted it was though. For one, he had a level of stupidity that he thought the government would not cross. Secondly, banshees are extremely rare and hard to capture. It would take the possible loss of life just to capture and transport them, something that he doubted many people would be up for if they knew the purpose was just for the amusement of people and the glory of competition.

"You should sleep on it. It is late tonight and I assume that you are tired after all of the magic you expended earlier today. I am not going anywhere and I am able to help you should you need me, you need only come here and ask. Now, off to bed Hadrian." She said in a warm tone. She watched as he looked ready to argue before a huge yawn overtook him and his will to argue left with the yawn he released. He then told her goodnight before leaving. Her body started to fade from view as the room around her started to collapse in on itself before it became nothing.


	15. The Feeling

_'French thoughts'_

 _"French speech"_

'English thoughts'

"English speech"

§parseltounge§

This method is reversed in flashbacks

Not even going to try putting French accents into the English portions

Chapter 15: The feeling

The few days following the second task found Hadrian almost exclusively within the old and surprisingly clean shelves of the Hogwarts library. Hadrian supposed that the house elves were in here every night putting away books left by negligent students as well as cleaning. The only breaks he had taken from the library were to eat and sleep. He was getting frustrated as he was nowhere closer to the answer than he had been when he had started. He had been searching through the various books on magical creatures and had yet to find any that referenced the creature shrieking besides any mentions on banshees.

He highly doubted that the ministry would bring those creatures anywhere near a large gathering of people. While bringing dragons, especially nesting ones, onto school grounds was one of the more stupid things they could have done, bringing a banshee was exponentially worse. Dragons had reserves with people trained and equipped to subdue and contain the creatures. on the other hand, banshees were more dangerous as well as harder to capture and contain. Hadrian figured that most if not all of the information pertaining to the capture and studying of banshees rested in the hands of the Department of Mysteries in the Ministry of Magic. The thought of them creating a way to transport and hold a banshee just for the entertainment of some people would nigh improbable.

He also doubted it based on how much information was in the clue. He doubted that the only clue they would get was the wail of a banshee. He had read about previous tournaments and the clues given out were generally riddles that needed to be deciphered before making a modicum of sense. A movement out of the corner of his eye brought him from his thoughts as he focused on the person walking near him. He was nestled towards one of the back corners of the library and rarely saw anyone walk past him as he was doing his research. He had caught glimpses of the other champions sifting through the plethora of knowledge offered by the library at times, but they rarely ever stayed more than a minute or two before heading back from where they had been studying previously.

His eyes caught the bushy brown hair of a student that was around his age. She was almost a permanent fixture within the library whenever he had been in here. He wouldn't have been surprised if someone had told him she was a ghost that had died by some freak accident and was still trying to read her way through every book that the library held. However, he knew that wasn't the case. No one who wasn't alive had eyes like she did. The eyes of the ignored and forgotten. The eyes that cried out for someone to acknowledge them when the person physically would not. The eyes that showed the constant struggle of hoping for things to take a better turn while facing the reality of realizing it most likely never would. He knew those eyes all too well, they were the ones that stared back from the mirror before he had been taken away from the Potters.

Hadrian tried to push down the feelings of sorrow as he turned back to his work. He hoped something would come along to help her. While Hadrian's initial severance from the Potters had been extremely terrifying, discovering the magical world as well the people who were part of the Misfits provided the opportunity for him to break away from his depressed self. The people gave an atmosphere of comradery as well as a place of competition to help him grow. He highly doubted something was going to come around during her time at Hogwarts.

He had barely gotten back into his research before he heard soft clacking of shoes upon the floor. He looked up to see who was going to interrupt his research this time, but the two who walked past him didn't even seem to notice his presence. In fact, they deemed oblivious to all around them except for the whatever was the target in their minds. He could make out the face of his brother as well as the orange hair that most likely belonged to the boy Hadrian had the misfortune of meeting at the world cup, not that they would have known it was him. It didn't take long till they reached their destination, or rather until they found their objectively.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the resident bookworm. Fancy seeing you here. We almost never see you besides class time. I saw you trying to make me look foolish in McGonagall's class by correcting my answer. I thought we had warned you last time what would happen if you did that." Hadrian could hear the fluttering of pages and the clatter of the books hitting the floor. He couldn't stop himself as the guilt took over him for not doing anything. When he was a kid, he had wished for someone, anyone, to come and just acknowledge him. Sirius helped in that regard, but he was unable to be there all the time. He had his own job to do and life to live.

Hadrian might have been able to ignore the torment going on a few shelves down had it not been his brother that was the one doing the tormenting. He was still connected to them by blood no matter how much he would have liked to distance himself from them. He couldn't, in good conscience, let the poor girl go through her current torment and still be angry at his parents. If he wouldn't help someone who had fallen into a similar position as the one he had been in, how was he supposed to hold any grudge against his parents? How would he have been any better? As his guilt grew so did his anger. While Thomas hadn't really been a part or the cause for his parents' negligence, he was showing that he was worse. His parents didn't go out of their way to rub it in his face they either they or Thomas were better. They weren't deliberate in their actions, just extremely wrong in their implementation of parenting. He slowly got out of his chair as the temperature around him started to drop little by little. His steps were as quiet as a mouse's as he made his way towards where his brother's insults were coming from.

He arrived at the row that the three were at and could see books and parchment strewn about the floor. The two boys' backs were turned towards him as their attention was upon the girl glaring up at the two boys. Whenever she looked at the ginger-haired boy, her eyes held nothing but loathing within them. However, with his brother, they also held trepidation. She must have tried to fight back before and lost to his brother. Her eyes caught his for a brief moment and she sent him a plea for help with her eyes. He stalked up behind the two boys who seemed not to notice the slight shift in her line of sight. When he was but a foot away from both boys, they both gave an unconscious shudder from the frigid aura he was giving off.

"Pray tell, brother, what have I walked into. I sincerely hope it isn't as it looks like. I don't see how this is proper behavior for one of your stature." Hadrian drawled. Both boys jumped and spun when he started talking. At least Thomas had the sense to go for his wand that had been in his sleeve. When Thomas recognized who had spoken to him, a sneer grew on his face and the ginger soon followed suit.

"None of your business Harry. Get lost." Thomas spoke with a sharp tone that turned mocking when he said his brother's nickname. The ginger seemed to shrink back a small amount as Hadrian's eyes became the sickly glowing green of the killing curse. His brother at least had the spine to not look away.

"It would seem that you made it my business. One, because you are interrupting my research. Two, because you are bringing disgrace upon anybody who is related to you. This unfortunately includes me. While I have no care for you to bring any negative feelings towards the Potter name, I do get annoyed at any possible actions you take that have an effect over how others see and treat me. Your current actions would do just that if this is how you have been acting over the past three and a half years here. I hope I don't come across this happening again during my tenure at this school, is this understood?" His voice been close to a hiss the entire time he spoke. His brother's actions really got on his nerves.

The ginger seemed to regain some of his nerve and had pulled out his was to point it at Hadrian. Hadrian wasn't worried though. He knew he could get his wand out faster than any spell they could do. He also had the reflexes to dodge any spell his brother's friend might send his way.

"You don't get to boss him around. He's the Boy-Who-Lived. You should be thankful that you are even related to him. We'll show you what happens when you cross us." The ginger was full of anger and confidence, that he and Thomas would be able to take Hadrian down, but Thomas' eyes were showing a different story. He was weighing what he had learned versus that knowledge that came with what had happened with the dragons in the arena. He seemed to realize he was outmatched and turned on his heel.

"Come on Ron, let's not waste our time here. Dinner should be serving soon." His brother created his way out. The forgettable extra seemed to be in shock that Thomas didn't want to show someone their place before getting a glazed look in his eye when Thomas mentioned food. The both hurried off towards the exit of the library and Hadrian and the girl were left alone while the bushy-haired girl looked somewhat awkwardly at him.

There was an awkward moment while the girl was trying to process what had just happened before her eyes. She had seen anyone stand up to Thomas and she sure as hell never experienced somebody coming to her aid when she was the one being targeted. She looked up at her rescuer and took a good look at him. He was about an inch taller than Thomas, as well as a little thinner. She could see the family resemblance in the facial structure. He then decided to break the awkward silence that had sprung up between them.

"Are you okay?" he asked. She decided to break her impromptu staring contest with her tormentor's brother due to the hard look she was receiving. She looked down slightly and fidgeted slightly before mumbling.

"I'm fine." She then cleared her throat. "Thank you." She said in a stronger voice. "No one has ever stood up for me before."

Hadrian gave his best benign smile. "Think nothing of it. Perhaps I could have a name to go along with the person I'm now speaking to." He said with a questioning tone towards the end.

The girl looked down at her shuffling feet and seemed to consider not answering before her voice came out in a quieter tone.

"My name is Hermione." The girl said. Now that he had a name to the face he didn't have to keep referring to her as the brown-haired girl in his head.

He looked at all the books strewn about the floor and flicked his wand out before having all of the books fly back to their previous positions, which was a small wall built around Hermione towards the way out of the isle. Hadrian recognized it as a subconscious, imperceptible unless you knew what you were looking for, action that he had done many a time at Potter manor when his parents would ignore him. It was like a physical barricade between you and reality. You had the works of literature, both fiction and nonfiction, to keep you there. In this safe zone, you didn't need to worry about reality unless reality came to you. Hadrian was sad to see that someone else was doing it. That action usually meant that the person inside didn't have a person to share anything with. He decided to try to extend a bit of an olive branch.

"Well then hello Hermione. My name is Hadrian. I don't want to speak on behalf of House Potter as I would like to disassociate myself of them as much as possible. I would however like to apologize for anything my arsehole of a brother has put you through." Hadrian said with some actual heartfelt apology in his words regardless of whether it was his fault. He didn't want other people to go through something that he had to by his own family.

Hermione seemed a little shocked at how casually he insulted his brother. She finally forced out an answer. "You have nothing to apologize for and unless somebody is speaking for an incapacitated person, a mute person, or a company, I don't believe in apologizing on someone's behalf. If he had any remorse he would come and apologize to me in person." The look on her face told Hadrian that she seemed uncomfortable with the line that this topic was taking and decided to bring it back into more familiar waters.

Hadrian took a look around at the books on the table. The topics he could see seemed to be spread out amongst the classes taught at Hogwarts. "So, what are you studying?"

Hermione gave him a small smile, seemingly appreciating the gesture of bringing them onto a topic she was familiar and comfortable with. "A little of everything. I'm trying to learn more about magic." she said with more enthusiasm. Hadrian perked up as his eyes focused a slight bit more. Maybe this was someone who didn't have the instinctual feel for magic. Someone who had read the current rules and thought that they weren't logical. Someone who was now trying to connect the dots between various disciplines to find similarities.

"I'm trying to read about the topics we are going to cover later in the year so that I can start reviewing now. I don't want to be too swamped when the end of the year arrives." She finished. As fast as his small amount of excitement had come, it disappeared. He had thought he found another person who didn't want to be tied down by the current rules that people allowed themselves to be governed by. The rules put down their throats by the ministry for so long that it eventually just became a way of life for them. Some of his disappointment bled through into his next statement.

"You are studying known applications of magic rather than magic itself." He stated. Hermione seemed taken aback that someone would correct her on terminology, especially when she hardly saw a difference.

"There's barely any difference between those two. By using magic, we understand it more. Therefore, by understanding the way we apply magic, we can understand more about the thing itself." She said in an argumentative tone. Despite his annoyance, Hadrian couldn't help but let out a smile. At least she was coming out of her shell. He gave a small shake of his head as he clicked his tongue while he put his nose more in the air to give him the look of a teacher clearly disappointed with his apprentice. It was much like the look Rowena gave him when he had tried to overpower her in his first lesson. He decided to try and help her understand it more.

"Can you tell me what magic is? Where it comes from? How we humans are able to wield it? I highly doubt it or else you would have already won an Order of Merlin, First Class and created a new field of study. We can use magic, but we are not the origin. If that were the case, then every human would be able to use magic and no animals would be. Some animals are magic given form, such as unicorns and phoenixes. Humans are able to pass this gift down by bloodline as well as have new magic pop up in families with no previous magical lineage. This either means that someone or something is deciding which new people are going to receive magical abilities, or that there is some circumstance that must be met to receive magic. This circumstance has the ability to be deliberate or random in nature. There might be a being who has every person's name on a list and uses a lottery system to determine what people with non-magical lineage get to have magic. Or all that might be wrong and magic might be absorbed into babies while they are in the womb which would cause almost every child who had magical parents to have magic. It would also mean that we could possibly turn every future child into a wizard or witch by having the pregnant mother live in an area with more ambient magic. There are thousands of possibilities and many avenues of research. We as humans have used magic for millennia and that hasn't brought the common man any closer to understanding magic. You could most likely search our already known fields of study for centuries and not come up with anything more than we already know. What makes it so much different for you?" Hadrian finished his mini lecture.

Hermione had sat there listening to every word he was saying with rapt attention. None of the books she had read told her of any of this. She went to go question his logic.

"Then how would you, a fourteen-year-old boy, know more than the people who have been studying the origin of magic for their whole lives. None of the books I have read have stated anything like you are saying." She refuted.

'So, she is a more by the book with the rules sort of person.' Hadrian thought. He took his turn in the impromptu debate. "Can you tell me who makes the books." He saw that she started to flip to the early pages and stopped her with another comment. "No, not that particular book. I mean any book ever written by human hands."

She took a second to think before giving an answer in a questioning tone. "Humans?" she said.

Hadrian nodded. "Exactly. Humans. And humans are what?" he questioned. Hermione sat there stumped. She had no idea where he was trying to take this line of thinking. She gave a shrug of her shoulders to give him the sign that she didn't know the answer he was looking for.

"Fallible. Humans are fallible. Not everything written in a book is true and not every truth of the world is written in a book. If a person can be wrong when they are speaking, why is it that they couldn't be wrong when their words are put into a book?" he finished with a question.

"But most books are fact checked by peers which means that even if they are wrong, it is multiple people who all came to the same conclusion from they facts given." Hermione argued back. Hadrian shook his head. The ignorance of her muggle upbringing was starting to show through.

"It might be that way in the muggle world, but it is almost impossible to keep those standards in the wizarding world. Do you know how many wizards and witches are in the British Isles?" Hermione shook her head. "It's somewhere around five thousand. That means that the jobs that are filled first are lower level base jobs as well as the ministry jobs. It's why the ministry has such a huge influence over the country. Most if not all families have someone in the ministry. It's not like every other parent is in the ministry, but almost all pureblood families or a connected family member who no longer bears their name is at the ministry. This large number of people who are doing these jobs mean that the number of people who have the skills, desire, and influence in the ministry to get a high paying, highly funded research position is very low.

If the number of researchers is low, that means the ability to have many people do the same experiment is almost impossible on any complex magical theory or test that might take up a decent amount of time for other people who were not part of the project to begin with. This all sums up to the fact that many of the articles written in the book are based off of one person's test and experiments because people don't have the time to recreate it without their own work suffering. This can mean that the 'fact check' is nothing more than people running over the numbers or results to see whether it seems that it could be legitimate. This can lead to people tweaking the numbers of their results to make it seem more legitimate or that someone can have something close to the right answer that applies to most situations without having it completely correct leading to major failures in certain situations." Hermione looked crestfallen at the news that the books might contain wrong information.

"I'm not saying that you should throw all books away and never believe in them, but don't put all of your faith in them. If you do, the will let you down at some point." He ended. They lapsed into silence. Hadrian gave her a parting thought. "I'll leave you to think on what I said and if my brother gives you any trouble, just come tell me." He said before heading off. He missed the smile that bloomed on Hermione's face at the thought of another scholar who she could discuss all types of magical theories.

The anger had slowly been building up over a two-week period. Two weeks without a shred of information that he could find useful for the second task. The annoyance that he had was reprieved for a short while as he had theoretical discussions with Hermione. They would start talking about generally accepted magical theory and move it more towards things that they might like to research one day. Their discussions could last hours and he was glad to see that she was coming out of her shell with him. It had taken a week for his brother along with his ginger haired friend to gather the courage to start looking around the library for Hermione again before backing off once they saw that he was sitting with her. He hadn't seen them again after that. Hermione had had a rather full day of classes and homework the previous day that she hadn't visited the library. He had been so close to finishing the book on land creatures at the time that the library was closing that he hid himself and went to work trying to finish the book. He must have fallen asleep because by the time he came back to his senses, there were small pinpricks of light coming through the window.

After staying in the library all night, he decided he had needed a breath of fresh are. This led him to be currently sitting against a tree by the edge of the lake while holding onto egg. He was on the opposite side of the castle from both of the visiting magical schools. It was also the shadowed side as well as colder side, not that he minded. He looked at the egg before reaching his hand for the clasp, hoping in vain that something within the noise would change so that he might be able to understand it.

He unturned the clasp and was greeted with the unholy wailing of the egg. His anger manifested in a split-second decision as he reached back, his anger unconsciously adding trace amounts of magic to his muscles and chucked the egg into the lake where it skipped a couple of times from the force before sinking into the water. Hadrian sighed at his foolishness, now he had to go get the damn thing. He looked around to check if anyone was in the vicinity. After finding it all clear, he waded into the water.

When he fully submerged, he started to listen for the distinct wailing of the egg. He was surprised that the only the he could hear was a faint song coming from somewhere. He decided to reach out with his senses to see if he could find any trace of it. When he extended his senses, he couldn't feel a strong enough feeling to lead him to the egg. He was beginning to resign himself to having to manually sweep the before he thought to try something. Instead of expanding over a huge area like Rowena had taught him to do, he sunk into the feeling of the water all around him. He started to feel so many things. Various creatures roaming the water, the giant squid lazily floating around the lake, and a cluster of around 100 beings somewhere on the other side of the lake. He then felt the small presence of the egg before he had to let go of the technique. His brain was starting to throb with the various from all the information it was trying to process. He now knew why Rowena's teachings weren't leading to the end result. There is a difference between wind and water. While they were both almost always around you, wind never stopped moving. It was why expanding yourself meant feeling all of the sensations that the wind would bring to you. Water, on the other hand, could be moving or static. It was better for him to be the brain of a single entity than everything at once.

He headed over to the last place he had felt the egg, which was somewhere around 60 meters ahead of him. He started swimming towards it and could hear the singing start to get louder. He reached his destination and was surprised to hear that the glowing egg was no longer wailing an abhorrent noise, but rather singing a song that he could actually understand.

 _'Come seek us where our voices sound,_

 _We cannot sing above the ground,_

 _And while you're searching ponder this;_

 _We've taken what you'll sorely miss,_

 _An hour long you'll have to look,_

 _And to recover what we took,_

 _But past an hour, the prospect's black,_

 _Too late, it's gone, it won't come back.'_

He listened to the song a couple more times to remember it before closing the clasp going to the surface. When he came out of the lake he could only laugh. He now knew why Rowena was so confident he would win the task. He would be disappointed in himself if he didn't win. He was also amused that they had put a clue about a water-based task within an egg of a fire-based creature. He laid on the side of the lake and willed the water out of his clothes. He was elated. After weeks of fruitless searching and over a month of getting nowhere with his elemental pursuit, everything was finally starting to come together. He pulled himself up and headed into the castle with a rare smile on his face, not realizing he was being watched from afar.

The headmaster had awoken shortly ago and stretched out his old, creaking joints. If there was one thing that Dumbledore did not possess in this world, it was a youthful body. That wasn't to say he was useless, but the ability to duel for hours as having his muscles sustain the strain of magic running constantly through his muscles for enhanced physical activities. The minimal light that peaked over the mountain was reflected sharply off of the bright canary yellow pajamas he was wearing. He had initially starting wearing ludicrous clothing just to stick it to the purebloods who were such sticklers for traditions. They couldn't tell him off after he had defeated Grindelwald. He knew it irked them because they couldn't say anything and that was what started him along the path of creative clothing. Somewhere along the way he started to like the bright colors and the varying designs. They were like a light in a usually very bleak fashion world. He hoped that other would take up after him and add designs to their robes.

He changed into his daily robes and walked out of his chambers and into his office before heading over to Fawkes. "Hello there, Fawkes." He said as he scratched under the bird's chin. The bird gave a quiet chirp of happiness as he basked in the pleasure of being stroked. Immortal or not, there was no reason to not like being petted. The headmaster's eye was caught by an object through the window that was moving at high speeds. He went over and opened the window to see the person of his recent interest wading into the pond at 7:30 in the morning near the start of December. He watched as the youngest Potter went beneath the surface as all of the ripples from his intrusion into the lake died down. He waited for about 15 minutes before the Hadrian's head broke surface again and he came out with his golden egg. Dumbledore chuckled at the thought. Hadrian must have thrown that egg rather hard for it to have been going the speed that he had seen out of the corner of his eye.

He pondered on how to bring the young Potter into the fold. He was proving to be quite hard to track down. Besides the past couple of weeks where the boy was always in the library, he generally disappeared off of Dumbledore's radar. He had noticed that Hadrian had started to have discussions with the Granger girl. It gave him the insight that pureblood ideology had not taken a hold in young Hadrian, but the girl held no ties towards himself beyond the fact that he was headmaster. There was no way to have her slowly convince Hadrian to come to Dumbledore's aid. It slightly irked Dumbledore that most things he noticed about Hadrian gave him insight, but not anything actually helpful. He looked down towards his familiar.

"I guess we still have to wait for things to play out, huh Fawkes." he asked the bird. The only response he got was a low croon.

 **A.N. I got the number of magicals by using the yearly class size of Hogwarts for a basis. 5 people per gender per house per year brought me to 40 students a year and I gave them an average lifespan of 120 years.**


	16. Headway

**Disclaimer: obviously I only own the idea of my story and not that of the original author of this series.**

 _'French thoughts'_

 _"French speech"_

'English thoughts'

"English speech"

This method is reversed in flashbacks

Not even gonna try putting french accents into the english portions

I know some people were saying that the births were low for Hadrian's surrounding class years, but I'm going off of the assumption that large numbers of families were being wiped out as well which would have caused large drops in the population number.

Chapter 16: Headway

Rowena had not expected to be disturbed this early in the morning, nor in the morning at all. Hadrian had been spending most of his time in the library to figure out what the second task had in store for him with only short visits in the afternoon every couple of days. It was this line of thinking that had her surprised when her she felt Hadrian through the wards, and he was making his way up to her room. She could feel that there weren't many students who were awake and was wondering what made her disciple feel the need to come to her in the morning. She felt the room form around her as her apprentice reached the door. She materialized a body as the door to the recently spawned room was being opened.

Just like all of the other times he had come to the room, she was waiting for him. The way she stood in the middle of the room made it look like that was the place she had been standing ever since he had last left the room, even if he knew that to not be the truth. He walked in with a self-satisfied grin before holding the egg out to his teacher. "I figured it out." he said, perhaps a touch too smugly "I figured them both out.". The second part was said with more relief and pride in his accomplishment. It had taken him months with little to no success to figure out how to get the feeling.

His teacher's eyebrows creased for a split second before morphing into an appraising look. "You managed to feel your element?" she questioned. She got a proud nod as an answer. She let a smile take over her face as she felt pride in her student. She knew to get to the state was tough and she felt an immense amount of pride for her student to get to that point. She then pushed him for more answers.

"How did it feel?" she asked with a bit more concern. She had experienced her first time being in tune with her element and had overdone it.

"It felt amazing at first. The ability to know where everything was made me feel so strong. Is this how you always feel?" he finished with the question. He couldn't imagine being able to feel that all the time. It was no wonder he couldn't do anything in a duel.

"It's good to hear that all the fruits of your labor have paid off. And yes, that is how I always feel. However, I wouldn't recommend staying with your perception upgraded for too long at this point. Your brain now has to deal with an amount of sensory input that is unprecedented for it. Even with magic to help ease it, you need to build up experience to hold it for longer. It shouldn't take longer than a year to be able to hold it permanently, shorter if you don't mind the headaches as you go to sleep." she told him. She started to mold the room around her until they were on a small rock island in the middle of a lake. Hadrian looked at her with a questioning look.

"Show me what you can do. I can plan our future lessons from this." she told him.

Hadrian gained a determined look on his face as he sunk into himself and felt for all of his element. The rush of invigorating power flowed through him and his eyes began to give off a soft glow. The lake was about a ¾ of a kilometer in diameter and about 8 feet deep. He lifted the entire amount of water into the air and couldn't help but feel like the conductor at a symphony. He then split it into two and turned them into large boxing gloves and giving them a few test swings. He then froze and shattered them immediately before starting to dissolve portions into snow and let it fall down onto the two standing in the middle, one with and face of concentration and the other with a studious look.

Hadrian continued on with the aerial acrobatics with the water for another fifteen minutes. He marveled at how easy it was to control his element. His old abilities gave him superb control over his element, but never on this scale and ease. Instead of intense focus to have everything to happen, the water seemed to be a part of him. It was like moving an arm. It felt completely natural. He pulled back when he felt the headache start to encroach. He gently turned all the ice back to water and refilled the lake. The look of concentration faded away to be replaced by one of contentment. He couldn't believe he had been missing this feeling all of these years.

"That was a very good show for just having found the ability. I can't overstate how impressed I am with how far you've come in the amount of time that you have been here. I didn't discover this feeling until my mid-twenties. You are much farther ahead of where I when I was your age. Now, how did you figure out the clue for the next task?" she asked him.

Hadrian's look became sheepish as he ducked his head. "I might have gotten angry and thrown the egg into the lake." he tried to mumble under his breath. Regardless, Rowena caught it and started to laugh. Sometimes it took hours upon hours to reach a conclusion and sometimes all it took was a happy accident. She gave him a smile.

"I guess whatever way that you found out works. I assume you don't need any help for the next task?" he shook his head. "Good. If that's the case, then let's see the results of your training.". Hadrian saw the room shift around him until it was the same as when he was given his thorough beating.

He looked back to Rowena to see a haughty smirk had taken residence upon her face. "Do you think you can actually scratch me this time?" she asked in a challenging tone. A grin grew upon Hadrian's face as his eyes started to glow. The moment he reached out to grab the water out of the river flowing beside them, he felt the winds around him start to move with more ferocity.

The water circled around him protectively, ready to be used for offence or defense depending on what its controller needed. Hadrian could see the winds curling around his teacher in a very similar manner. He decided to prod her defenses by quickly freezing a lance of ice and sent it hurtling at her. Rowena spun the wind around herself and sent the lance of ice careening off course where it was no longer relevant. She opened her defenses enough to show her giving him a "bring it" motion with her hand.

Hadrian took that as his queue to launch into an attack. He froze about half of the water he currently had into lances and started hurling large amounts of them at his teacher. Rowena was content to let her winds do with the incoming lances as they had done with the first one. She was surprised when each of the lances started to shatter into hundreds of small, razor sharp blades that were then sucked into the vortex that surrounded her. She let out a smile. At least her student's methods had improved. He had surrounded her in his element. Making sure that if she wanted to get rid of his threat, she would have to get rid of her defenses for a short time. Maybe this wasn't going to be boring after all.

Hadrian kept up the assault until he had enough water around her should she decide to try and get rid of it, he might be able to redirect enough of it at her. For the current time, he started to take the water out of every living thing surrounding them until their place of battle looked like a barren wasteland. The water he had grabbed combined with the leftover water he had to combine into a large sword, approximately four meters long and half a meter thick. He raised it high before sending it down hard at his teacher. He was met with gale force winds that stopped it before it hit his target. He tried pushing harder, only to feel more pressure as his teacher put more power into her abilities.

He could also see multiple miniature tornadoes drilling into all parts of the blade. He panicked as he saw one twister branch off from its route towards his sword to go for him. He froze some water to make a foot-thick wall in front of him and made a tentacle of water loop around his waist to pull him farther away from the danger zone. He tried to make the ice he had sitting around his teacher to collapse upon her. He could feel the thousands of pieces of ice struggling to break through the strong winds that surrounded his teacher. He had to halt his progress as more tornadoes were sent his way. He pulled the blade back towards his body while melting and freezing it into a larger shield to block the attacks sent by his teacher.

He looked at the shield and could see it had many large chunks taken out of it from where all the tornadoes had drilled into it. He tried to assess the situation. He could feel his limit coming and the edges of a headache setting in.

Rowena stood in the middle of her winds with a mix of pride and consternation. Her apprentice was doing well and had made a better strategy. The ice was always at the edge of her peripherals. Always threatening to collapse onto her if she didn't get rid of them. She would need a few seconds to use her current shield to shove them into the ground and to set up new ones. She started immediately, trying to get it done while her student was busy trying to figure out his next attack.

Hadrian felt the shift in the winds. This was what he had planned for, an opening in the defence. He sent a wide area banishing charm behind himself that sent his body rocketing in the direction of his teacher. He shot through the shield in front of him as the portion that he went through was contorting into armor and gauntlets around him. He was flying close to the ground, like he had been shot out of a cannon. He was closing in on his teacher and could see the surprise on her face. He saw her legs tighten in preparation to jump into the air. He smirked as he brought some water up from underground to wrap around her feet before freezing. It had come when he had taken the water out of all of the plants. He had hidden some underground for the moment.

Rowena hastily tried to recreate her shields as her student rocketed towards her and sent a strong air blast at her student. There were loud screeches as the air scraped along the ice armor that her student had surrounded himself with she put as much power as she could into her attack to stop her student's forward momentum. She felt a light sting on her cheek before she saw her student look like he had frozen in time for a split second as all his momentum was used. He was then launched backwards and then only thing he had time to do was surround himself with the strongest cushioning charm he could possibly do. He was then treated to the finest dirt and rock and he bounced and skidded across the landscape.

He laid in the spot where he landed and was breathing hard. His body ached all over and his head was all fuzzy. He could feel his teacher floating over to him. She was still on guard and he gave an internal laugh. He would be able to do anything in this condition. He couldn't hold his elemental state any longer as he groaned. He opened his eyes to see his teacher hovering over him before they caught on to a slight detail.

"I guess I got that scratch after all. I get this victory." was all he could say before the darkness overtook him.

Rowena looked confused before reaching up to her cheek, underneath her left eye, where the stinging sensation was coming from. She pulled her hand away to see a small amount of blood on her finger. She couldn't help but let out a smile at how much her apprentice was coming along.

* * *

Hadrian woke up in a bed that was certainly not the one he had in his room. He could feel the vestiges of his latest headache and let out a groan before plopping back on the bed. He racked his brain to try and remember how the fight ended before he felt the phantom pain from getting flung across the field like he had been shot out of a cannon. His body ached from the small movements that made his muscles expand and contract. His stomach rumbled and he pushed through the pain to sit up and check the time. It was a little past seven, so he decided to go take a shower before heading down for dinner.

He wandered into the bathroom before stripping and checking his body in the mirror. He saw that all the cuts and bruises had been healed up, most likely by Rowena. He then turned on the water and hopped into the shower.

The hot water against his sore muscles made him wish that he wasn't feeling hungry so that he wouldn't have to get out, but alas, it was not meant to be. He realized he didn't have any spare clothes before having a quick thought.

"Hogwarts elf." he said out into the air. He was rewarded with a small crack and a diminutive servant a few seconds later. The elf looked around quickly, clearly not used to summoned.

"I's being Mipsy. How can I's be of service?" the elf said in her own broken English.

"Hello, Mipsy. Would you mind going to Harry Potter's room and grabbing a spare set of clothes? I forgot to bring up an extra set." he asked in a kind voice. He knew from his childhood that the elves responded better to being treated nicely. It would usually endear them to that person. He had seen how some of the elves were treated at some of the formal functions that Sirius had taken him to. Many of the dark or families treated them with spite while the neutrals mainly looked at them as something beneath them. Hadrian thought this was far from the truth. While Hadrian didn't know what caused the elves to become subservient to wizards, all elves still retained the ability to do magic without a wand. It must have been something extremely strong to put a curse upon the entirety of a race that would last for millennia.

"Mipsy be's getting it for you." She said before disappearing with a slight pop. She returned a few moments later with a fresh pair of clothes in her hands.

"Thanks, Mipsy." Hadrian told the elf as he took the clothes from her.

The elf beamed up at him. "It is Mipsy's pleasure to help Hogwarts students. If you's being needing anything else, just calls for me." She said with pride. She then disappeared with another small pop and Hadrian was once again left in silence. He put on his clothes before heading out of the room and towards the great hall as his stomach gave another rumble. The upper floors were rather deserted as he traversed them and he only started to run into students once he got to the third floor. The number of students became larger as he made his way towards the great hall.

He began to notice the looks he was getting from the other students, mainly the females. Gone were the looks of curiosity over his house or wariness from his power to kill a dragon. He was currently getting looks he had never been on the receiving end before. He still hadn't figured out what they were about by the time he got to the hall, so he put them to the back of his mind. He grabbed a spot at the Ravenclaw table before he piled his plate with food and started to dig in. He had close to two minutes of peace before he felt someone standing right behind him. He waited for whoever it was to do anything.

A slight clearing of the throat was what brought him to turn around to look at a girl who looked about the same age as him with black hair, though not as dark as his. She was a couple of inches shorter than he was but was staring down at him with her apathetic blue eyes. The green trims on her robes denoted what house she was from. He waited for her to start the conversation.

Once it was clear he wasn't going to say anything more, she came out with a question he was not expecting. "Will you accompany me to the ball this Yule?" she asked him in an even tone.

Hadrian's had a confused that slowly crept over his face. "What?" he asked with all the eloquence that he could.

She huffed before repeating her question. "Will you accompany me to the ball this Yule?".

Hadrian had no idea what she was talking about. He hadn't been to a Yule time ball in years. It was generally how Sirius had tried to get him to socialize with kids his age but he would always look for the hosting family's library and would disappear into it. "I'm sorry." He apologized. "I have no desire to go to some family's formal function and even more with someone who I don't know." He told her. He truly had no desire to go to some stuffy, formal ball hosted by some pureblood family.

Her face got a little pinched. "You didn't hear the announcement, did you?" she asked him. He shook his head. He had been in neither a state nor place to receive an announcement, though he was getting confused as it seemed to not be of normal status. Most purebloods would send out formal or personalized invitations. There was never an announcement, these things didn't have open door policies. He looked towards her to explain more.

She saw the questioning look and decided to explain it to him. "There is a ball that the tournament traditionally throws being held here on Yule. I thought that it would be interesting to try to get to know the most mysterious champion. There was also the fact that you probably know how to dance. I saw you at a few functions when we were younger. Most adults don't take kids until they learn at least a little."

This was sounding like something he didn't want to do. Being surrounded by people was something he tried to avoid. It was something that just made him uncomfortable, and if he could avoid it he would. He could also see that there was a possibility that he would be forced to go as this was a part of the tournament. He gave the most diplomatic answer that he could.

"I'm going to have to check on this to see if I have to attend. If I must, the answer is yes. You were the first to ask and seem like you can handle a decent conversation. I'll have your answer by the end of dinner. Could I get your name?" He asked her. "Daphne Greengrass." She said before excusing herself and heading off to her own table to sit next to a blond girl who was eating dinner. Both missed the sky blue eyes that had watched the entire exchange.

Hadrian went back to eating his dinner. It took about twenty minutes before he had finished it and looked up towards the head table. He was trying to figure out who to get information out of before his eyes landed upon the most diminutive professor. Hadrian had heard of Flitwick. He was a former champion of the dueling circuit and was decently well known in most of the European countries for this fact.

Hadrian stood up from his place and made his way up to the head table. The diminutive professor's chair was lined up with his house's table, so Hadrian didn't have to walk across it at all. A few of the teacher's eyes had noticed him coming and were wondering what he was coming to do. He stopping in front of the dueling champion and waited for him to acknowledge his presence. The man had earned some respect from Hadrian for his dueling skills. The charms professor looked up at the waiting teen in front of him.

"How may I help you Hadrian?" he asked. He was surprised that the Potter had come up to him. He had never expressed any desire to learn from any of the teachers nor had he wanted any of their help around the castle in general.

"I was wondering if it was necessary for the champions to attend the ball." He stated. He would really rather not go. He hated how most people acted at the balls he went to as a kid. He knew it wouldn't be the same, but enough similarities would shine through that it would most likely ruin the experience for him.

"I am afraid, Mr. Potter, that it is traditional for the and required for the champions to go to the ball. I do not know whether the goblet will enforce this, but I do know that the champions are supposed to be the ones who open up the dance floor for all of the other attendees." Flitwick informed the Potter teen.

Hadrian nodded with a disappointed sigh. "Then I guess I will bid you all a good evening." He said as he turned away. He made his way across the tables and garnered slightly more attention than his walk up to the teachers table did. He made his way over to where Daphne was sitting and stopped behind her. A quick clearing of the throat made him feel slightly ironic at the role reversals and waited for the response from Daphne.

She turned around and was waiting expectantly for an answer. However, she did not expect him to pull out his wand and wave it at his empty hand. She watched as a rose slowly formed in his hand, which he then held out to her.

"I would gladly be your date to the ball this Yule. I look forward to seeing you in a dress Miss Greengrass." He said before handing her the rose and heading out of the hall. She looked at the rose and smiled. It still had the thorns in it. she might enjoy this more than she had though. Somebody able to send little messages that were hidden in their actions were much more interesting than most people. She placed a preservation charm over the flower and placed it down on the table. She was excited to see what the night could bring.

Hadrian made his way out of the hall and towards his quarters when he was nearly bowled over by a familiar bush of brown hair.

Hermione looked up, startled, as she hadn't been paying attention and had been thinking about the homework assignment for Snape that she had been completing. She was trying to make sure that she had gotten all of the ingredients properties and effects right before she nearly ran right into someone. She looked up to see the potential victim of her distracted state and her eyes lit up as she realized it was Hadrian. She hadn't seen him in the past couple of days. She set off to apologize for nearly causing a collision.

"Hadrian, are you okay? I didn't hit you, did I?" she said a little sheepishly. Hadrian just gave a small laugh and waved off her concerns.

"I'm fine Hermione. You didn't hit me. You're a little late, dinner started a while ago." He told her.

She looked at him with an annoyed look at his statement as she narrowed her eyes. "Well excuse some of us for having some homework that needs to be done." She told him with little actual venom in her words. Hadrian noticed that she was starting to come out of her shell.

"That's what happens when you get entered into a magical contract that was not of your choosing. You get perks like not having homework from a school you don't go to." He stated in a teasing way.

Hermione looked a little bashful as she took his words in. His line also made her think about the tournament and the announcement made earlier today. Her face turned a little red as she tried to think about how to ask the one person who had been nice to her to the ball.

Hadrian noticed the reddening of her face and looked concerned. "Are you okay Hermione?" Hadrian asked as he placed his hand on her shoulder. He heard a faint mumble, but it was unintelligible to him. "You are going to have to speak up and repeat that." He told her.

"I said would you be my date to the ball?" she asked him in one breath. She let out a relieved sigh at finally getting it out.

"I have to apologize, but I already have a date to the ball. I should have thought that you might not have anyone to go with." He gave his condolences. Her hopes about going with someone who she considered a friend were dashed in that moment.

"No, no, it's fine. I'll try and see if I can find someone to go with." She tried to play it off. "I better go get some dinner before it all disappears." She said before making her way into the Great Hall.

Hadrian looked at her back with confusion over her sudden departure but shrugged it off. If it really bothered her and it concerned him, she would tell him.

* * *

The two weeks leading up to the ball were some of the most brutal on his body and mind that he had felt in a while. Rowena wanted him to feel natural in his empowered state. This meant her pushing him to stay in the state for as long as possible while also having multiple spars. Despite having a spar a day between the two, Hadrian felt like the chasm between her skill and his remained as large as ever. His efforts hardly netted any result and he felt like he was just running in place, regardless of the praise that his teacher had heaped upon him after every one of their spars.

The headaches were probably the worst part. Every night his head would be aching from the strain of trying to process that much information. Rowena outright refused to let him use a pain reliever for it. She stated that she didn't want his body to make the connection of headache to potion, as it would only be detrimental to him in the long run. He didn't voice it out loud, but at the back of his mind he thought that the long term could go suck it.

It got to be the day before the ball in the blink of an eye and it landed him in another spar versus his teacher. She seemed to be taking it easy on him today for whatever reason.

"I'm not fragile you know. I can take some hits." He amplified his voice towards her. The elements raged around their owners, inactive but just waiting for this slight lull in the action to cease before getting back into action.

"I know you can take some punches, but I wouldn't want to mess up your face for your date tomorrow." She shot back at him. Hadrian quietly cursed. He had purposefully not told Rowena about the dance so that they wouldn't have to talk about it.

"How?" Hadrian asked.

Rowena gave a small laugh at the absurdity of the question. "Don't you remember? I am the castle. I know almost all that goes on within these walls. The Great Hall is definitely not one of the places hidden from me. I want you to go and have a good time tomorrow night without the pain after one of our usual fight." She told him.

Hadrian huffed. "The only reason I'm going is because I'm not sure whether or not the goblet would force me and I have no desire to feel a hard yank on my magic when the cup wants to warn me about a breach of contract." Hadrian told her, still a little peeved that he had to go to this thing at all.

"I think it's a good thing. You get to mingle with some kids your own age." She raised her hand to stall his argument. "I know that you think most of them are far too immature to talk to and be friends with, but I'm sure that you can find a few that you don't mind being around. You have told me a little bit about your past and it painted a picture of one who didn't have many friends or most normal childhood experiences. I want you to go have fun tomorrow and make a night that you can remember." She told him. She saw the grudging look on his face.

"As an added precaution to make sure you don't try and sneak out of the ball the come here, this room will be closed all of tomorrow and will open the following morning. It will not respond to you or anyone else. Have a good time Hadrian." She finished as she vanished and the room started shrinking more and more until he was forced outside of the room and back into the corridor.


	17. The Ball

**Disclaimer: obviously I only own the idea of my story and not that of the original author of this series.**

' _French thoughts'_

" _French speech"_

'English thoughts'

"English speech"

This method is reversed in flashbacks

Not even gonna try putting french accents into the english portions

Chapter 17: The Ball

Hadrian found himself wandering the castle halls, trying to test his magic against various things in the castle. He was trying to see if anything reacted to his magic so that he could try to figure out the secrets of the castle. It was so large that Hadrian doubted anybody short of the founders or the builders of the castle themselves new all of the secrets that the ancient castle held. He had another reason for wandering aimlessly in the castle. He was trying to get his mind off of the upcoming ball that he was going to be attending. He hadn't attended a formal function in over half a decade and his date clearly had some ulterior motive besides just wanting to know the person who had taken down a dragon. She didn't have the fangirl tendencies that showed that type of thinking.

Speaking of his date, they had agreed earlier in the day to meet in the entrance hall about 5:45 and the doors opened at 6:00. She had then promptly shooed him away and told him that she had to go get ready. This talk had happened after breakfast and he had no idea how it took someone hours to get ready, but he wasn't going to argue over it. The only problem now was that he had no idea how to get his mind off of the anxiety of going into a large crowd and being the center of attention for something he didn't excel at. A magical contest was easy, his whole focus could be upon the task set to him and he could ignore the crowds around him. It would be rather hard when there was a person who he needed to focus on as well as a high likelihood of people trying to talk to him.

He stopped his stroll and checked the time. It was closing in on 5:00 and he decided it was about time to get into his dress robes. He headed back to his room and pulled the trunk off of his neck before expanding it. He went through the process of unlocking it and opened his clothing compartment. He already knew the robes he was going to wear. He had gotten a well-made dress robe when was doing a job to take someone out at a gala in France. He had needed to blend in to get close to his target. He grabbed the robe out of his trunk and used a few straightening charms on it before laying it out and heading into the shower.

Thirty minutes later found him in the entrance hall next to the other champions as they either awaited their dates to appear or for the doors to open to let the crowd in. Hadrian could see Thomas with an Indian girl who looked to be around their age. She was wearing a very traditional Indian dress and seemed to be soaking up the attention she was getting from being one of the champion's date. Thomas seemed to be preening under the attention as well, although that was just something he usually did. He was wearing a very traditional set of robes that spoke to an older heritage. Hadrian was looking forward to seeing Thomas dance. In the few functions that they actually went to as a family, Thomas didn't like to dance. Many of the girls had stopped trying to get a dance with him after their toes had been stepped on.

Fleur was wearing a crystal colored dress and was looking radiant and haughty. She was talking her date, though she was obviously a little annoyed at her date if her facial expressions were anything to go by. Fleur's date was a larger Hogwarts student that clearly couldn't handle the effects of the allure as evidenced by the slight glazing of the eye. He seemed to be hooked onto every word she was saying, even if he most likely wasn't registering a word.

Cedric was dressed in a bit more modern set of dress robes and had smaller Asian girl on his arm. The way the two were talking, and how their eyes lit up as they did so, hinted that this wasn't just a spur of the moment asking of a champion.

Hadrian looked at the only other champion who was also currently dateless and made his way over to him. "Is your date coming, Viktor?" Hadrian jested. He didn't even think it mattered if Viktor showed up without a date. There were probably a number of people who would happily ditch their current dates for tonight to be Viktor Krum's date.

He turned to Hadrian with a small smirk on his face. "She'll be here soon enough." He said in a confident tone. "Did your date stand you up?" Viktor shot back.

Hadrian scratched the back of his head. "You know, that is a possibility." He said in a light tone. "I highly doubt it though. I accepted at her behest and I don't think she'd back out now that she made her choice."

There was a rustling behind them and Hadrian turned to get his vision filled with a girl who had long straight brunette hair. She glided down the steps and it took Hadrian a moment or two to realize it was Hermione. She smiled at him and stopped a few steps away from him. He gave her an appraising eye as he gave her a once over. "You look fantastic Hermione. Whoever your date is will have his breath knocked out of him." She seemed to glow a bit at the praise. "You should probably go find him. I wouldn't want to keep you from your date any longer."

She gave a soft laugh that Hadrian didn't quite understand. "The world doesn't revolve around you Hadrian." She teased. "Amazingly enough, I stopped here for my date." She stated. Hadrian swiveled and his eyes locked on Viktor who was smirking at him.

"You." Hadrian stated in incredulousness. "How did somebody denser than a brick get somebody as smart as her." Hadrian bantered with a small smile on his face.

Viktor laughed a little and patted him on the shoulder. "Some of us know how to communicate with other people, and not just by flinging spells at them." he verbally jousted back.

Hermione gave Hadrian a light swat on the arm that was accompanied by a disapproving look. "Don't be rude Hadrian. Try to enjoy tonight without starting a blood feud."

Hadrian gave her a mock solute with a small grin. "Yes mother." He said sarcastically and soon had to duck under a swipe from Hermione. So caught up in the discussion was he that he failed to notice his date arriving behind him. A quick clearing of the throat had him turning around where he got the feeling of something being lodged in his. Daphne wore a rather simple but formfitting dress with her house colors. Her black hair was straightened and reached down to her mid back. Her face had a light application of makeup and the small smile upon her face just heightened her beauty.

Hadrian tried to hide his nervousness behind a smile and reached out for the hand that was being offered to him. He lightly kissed the back of her hand before releasing it. "You look ravishing tonight Ms. Greengrass." He got out, trying to hold in his nervousness. Her smile grew a bit and he thought that he didn't hide his emotions we enough to fool her.

A small amount of tension had built up for Hadrian as he didn't know what to say and Daphne seemed to get a small pleasure in seeing him squirm. The moment was broken by Viktor making a comment.

"You can't believe I got Hermione as a date, but you got her. What is more unbelievable? Me, who has the looks of Adonis getting a pretty lady. Or you, who has the looks David who has been smashed to pieces getting a pretty girl." Viktor jibed.

Before Hadrian was able to respond, his own date cut in. "I think that my date cleaned up rather well. Besides, I can't wait to see what Hermione thinks of her date once she realizes that he walks like a duck and will most likely step on her toes while dancing." She shot back. Hermione looked mildly offended but Viktor let out a hearty laugh.

"I can see why he said yes to you. I think you guys will have a fun night." He said as the sound of creaking met their ears and the doors to the great hall were opened. Professor McGonagall was standing in the doorway with her hands clasped behind her back. She was the picture-perfect example of poise and perfection. Her eyes scanned the crowd and she gave a small frown as she crossed over Hadrian. He guessed that she hadn't forgiven him for injuring one of her students. 'Oh well.' Hadrian thought. Hadrian could see many people trying to look past McGonagall to get a glimpse inside the hall, but the teachers had put up a spell that blurred the sight of everything past the transfiguration professor.

With one final sweeping gaze, the elderly lady put her want to her throat to amplify her message. "I would like to remind you to behave tonight, as your actions reflect not only upon yourselves, but upon your school." Hadrian could see her giving pointed looks at specific parts of the room but couldn't see the specific people. "Without further ado, I welcome you all to the winter ball." She stated as she stepped back and the blurring spell was dropped.

There were many gasps from the crowd as the took in the sight before them. The long tables had been removed, only to be replaced by numerous round tables scattered around the hall. The ceiling, which normally showed the outside sky, was showing dark clouds that let out a soft snowfall that disappeared when it reached ten feet above the ground. There were multiple ice sculptures of various animals placed around the hall. The racks holding the torches all had mistletoe growing on them as the fire gave the hall a warm glow. Hadrian was impressed to say the least. Even with magic, it was difficult to create something like this. The control to sculpt the ice and the finesse of the charms that were layered upon the room were almost impossibly well strung together.

Hadrian offered his arm to his date and could see her eyes going slightly glazed as she took in the room. He gave her a slight nudge with his arm which snapped her out of her stupor. She had a small sheepish look as she accepted his arm as if she was embarrassed for being caught looking at something. They both headed through the door but were stopped by the professor.

She raised her arm and pointed to where the teachers table usually resided. "The champions and their dates are to sit with the heads of the schools along with the ministry officials for the event." They followed her finger to see it pointing at a table that was almost twice as large as all of the other tables and was at the head of the hall. They made their way through the tables and students until they came to the table which already seated the heads of the schools, one smiling older man, as well as a boy who looked just out of school. Hadrian thought he recognized him from somewhere. It took him a few moments to place him before he realized who it was. 'He looks like the boy Thomas hangs out with and he's just out of school. Pecky Weasley?' he thought to himself. He had never really interacted with the Weasleys that much. They were always so loud and they rarely noticed he was there, so he would generally drift off into the library whenever they were over at the manor.

The duo reached the table and Daphne chose to sit in the empty chairs farthest from those already seated. He grabbed a chair and pulled it out while offering it to his date. She gave a small, polite smile and sat down before letting the chair get pushed in. He sat down himself and was content to wait while the rest of the students trickled in and tried to situate themselves to their liking. He looked over at his date and saw her head turned with her eyes flicking over the crowd. To the untrained eye it might seem that she was just looking at all of the people in the room, but he could see the purpose behind those eyes. She was taking in the various people and how everyone was situated. Who their dates were, who they were willing to have at their table. It was something he did when he had a job at a fancier function.

He decided to interrupt her information gathering. "Find anything interesting?" he asked her. She turned her head and gave a self-satisfied smile. She flicked her hair over her shoulder so that it was all behind her now.

"Only that my date gets more interesting as time goes on. The rest were small bits of information that I'll recheck at a later date." She stated. She seemed to be looking at him with a slightly greater intensity than any time before. He looked at her with an impassive look. She eventually gave up trying to read him and settled back down. He gave her a look before looking at the other people at their table.

"What did these people do to make you avoid them?" he asked. She didn't seem like she had any desire to go and talk to anybody at the table. "Did one of them piss off the lovely Ms. Greengrass perhaps? Or maybe she wants to stay out of the vision of the ministry. That would certainly be more entertaining of a story." He stated.

She gently shook her head. "Nothing that scandalous, I assure you." She said and then pointed to the far right. "Percy Weasley. Graduated last year as Head Boy and was one of the most boring people to talk to. He has been trying to work his way into the ministry since the latter part of his sixth year and has somehow managed to become the personal assistant to the head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation." She then pointed to the next person to the left. "Ludo Bagman, an ex-quidditch pro who can't stop talking about his glory days. He used to be really popular when he was good, but he now is the head of the Department for Magical Games and Sports. He's not the most organized fellow and has a few frowned upon habits, but his connections to other ministry members and to other countries is what lets him keep his job." She then skipped over Dumbledore and pointed to both foreign heads of schools. "Both school leaders just want to brag about their school. This whole thing is just a chest puffing competition for the both of them." She then pointed to the last remaining person. "Dumbledore, obviously. He likes to keep anything non school related away from students in their conversation unless there is a necessity for it. He is a total stick in the mud for an actual conversation." She finished giving her reasoning and turned her attention back him.

Hadrian could see the other champions filling up the seats around the duo. There were four seats in between them and either a ministry official or the Headmaster of Durmstrang. Krum and Diggory took the spaces next to them along with their dates while Thomas and Fleur were stuck towards the ends. Hadrian gave a look towards Daphne. "That's quite a lot of information on them." he stated with a mildly impressed tone. "But have you ever actually met them, made your own opinions of them?" he asked of her.

She shook her head. "I haven't tried to meet with them, nor would I be likely to get a meeting. They are two department heads and my family doesn't have anywhere close to the pull for me to go into a meeting with them." she stated. "Besides, why would I need to meet them, their reputation precedes them." she told him.

Hadrian looked at her with a small confused look. "Why would you want to not meet people based on reputation alone? I think that some people might surprise you if you took the time to actually talk to them, despite their reputation. Reputation isn't everything." He stated. He couldn't see the point in writing off potentially useful people based on what other people said about them.

"The reputations that people accrue are most of the time true, and public perception makes reality for higher ministry officials. Most people see that Bagman is close to being removed as the head of the department while Crouch, the man Percy is stepping in for, is a bitter old man who holds a fraction of the power he once did." She told him her eyes took on a more predatory glint. "I am more interested in seeing what your reputation will be and also curious how you don't have one already. A fourteen-year-old who has the capability of casting strong enough elemental spells to hold down a dragon. There are normally whispers if someone has that kind of magical training, but you just show up out of the blue and shock everyone. I am eager to see what comes next." She said.

Before their conversation could continue, there was an amplified sound of a fork clinking upon a goblet. The Headmaster of Hogwarts stood up from his chair as the chatter all died around him. He opened his arms in a welcoming manner towards the entirety of the hall. "I would like to say that I am happy to see this large grouping of students in this one place, coexisting. It is lovely to see the main purpose of this tournament coming to fruition. Making new contacts and connections from other countries help the world become safer as well as innovative. But I doubt you desire to hear an old man continue to talk about such boring things." He stated as he pulled up his menu. He looked at it before speaking into the menu "Pork chops". The food appeared on his plate and the other students seemed to take the hint as they all grabbed their menus.

Hadrian picked up his menu and took a peek at it. There were only four options; pork chops, steak, chicken, or a fruit salad. Hadrian opted to go for the chicken and spoke his desire out loud and watched as the food appeared on his plate. He looked over at his date to see that she had chosen the salad. The hall had quieted from the boisterous noise that had been coming from the large number of people in the hall. Now most of the noises were from lighter, quieter chatter and the clinks of cutlery on plates. The table was mostly silent besides Percy talking to Ludo and Thomas.

The dinner portion of the ball went on for about 45 minutes before Dumbledore stood up once again. The hall became silent at a much more rapid pace than when they first entered. "I would appreciate if all of the students could head to the back of the hall for just a moment while I make space for our next event." Dumbledore stated. Everyone got up and walked to the back with some people wondering what this was about. The champions were kept towards the front and Dumbledore whipped out his wand. Slowly, each and every table was lifted off of the floor and went towards the side walls. The ones that wouldn't fit were banished to who knows where. As much as Hadrian disliked the Headmaster, he had just demonstrated that he could control above fifty separate things at the same time. Whatever he was as a manipulator, he had the power to make people look up to him.

The champions were moved forward a bit and Dumbledore vanished the table they had eaten at then created the stage that the hired musical group would be using for the night. The floor in front of him was transfigured into a large dance floor. "Students, it is my privilege to introduce the Weird Sisters as tonight's entertainment." Dumbledore said with a flourish off to a side room where the Weird Sisters had been waiting. They walked out onto the stage to the sound of roaring applause. "As is tradition, the champions will be the ones to kick off the dance." Dumbledore said as he conjured steps to walk off of the stage and back into the group of teachers.

The champions took their places on the dance floor and waited for the music to start. Hadrian looked at the other champions and was pleased to see that Thomas was at least squirming a little. He had never wanted to learn how to dance, desiring to be the center of attention to other people rather than a sole person while on the dance floor. Fleur seemed uncomfortable but for a completely different reason. Her date seemed to not be able to completely block out her allure and was trying to get a little too handsy for her liking. Diggory and his date seemed to be content and ready for the dance as did Hermione and Viktor.

The music started to play and Hadrian placed his hand on Daphne's waist. It was a slow song and Hadrian picked the Waltz as it was a pretty easy dance to do and he wanted to wipe off the rust that time had accumulated. The duo moved around their area of the dance floor and soon had their movements constricted a bit due to the fact that the teachers had joined them on the floor. The action of the teachers joining meant that it wasn't long before the students started to make their way onto the floor as well. It was soon too crowded to truly move around and they were forced to use dance moves that kept them in the same general area.

The slow song died off and a faster song was introduced to the crowd and was met with a roar of approval from most of the attendees. Daphne decided that she didn't want to dance during one of the faster songs and that suited Hadrian just fine. They set off to grab some seats at one of the side tables and sat down. Daphne turned towards him with the same interested look on her face as she had before dinner had started. "We got interrupted, so I never got to hear your explanation about how someone the same age as I has the magical capability and power to hold down a dragon and isn't known across the countries. No teacher boasts about his or her pupil, no dueling circuits praising the up and coming talent, no schools bragging about their top student. I am curious as to where you learned it all." She stated.

Hadrian took some time to mull over her curiosity. It wasn't necessarily an uncommon one, but most people in Britain didn't keep an eye out for international news. They wouldn't have noticed that there wasn't any void of information coming from other countries. They would have just assumed he was a star student from some institute somewhere in the world. He decided to just play it vague, as he always had. "I learned a little here, a little over there. It's amazing what you can learn when most base beliefs are thrown out of the window." Hadrian told her. It was true as well. His parents used wands, but Hadrian hadn't been told that wandless magic was extremely rare in Britain. He had done it before on accident, there was no reason he shouldn't be able to do it on purpose. His parents rarely said the words to spells so why should he. All of the crutches that were generally thrust upon students when they start learning magic weren't given to him. It was only after he had learned most of the basics for himself that he learned about many of the normal beliefs that the people of Britain held.

Daphne looked a little put out at the noncommittal answer but didn't look like she was going to stop digging. He was actually looking forward to having someone try to unravel him. The game of truth, lies, and gleaning knowledge from a small slip of the tongue was always a fun one. It was Daphne's move now. Before she spoke, Hadrian felt a small buzz on his senses. He could feel a slight spike in magic use nearby but was unable to pinpoint it to a single person. "What's the truth about your disappearance? Most people know you went missing but what was the reason behind your leaving? Where did you go?" Daphne asked him.

The shotgun approach, give them multiple questions and hope they don't think through all of their answers enough so that one of them might give you the information you sought. He was formulating his answers in his head when the magic he had felt before came towards them at a slow pace. Hadrian swiveled around to try and look for it but was unable to find anything of note. It was still nagging at his senses when he turned back to Daphne and she was giving him a quizzical look. He looked down slightly and saw a beetle sitting innocently upon Daphne's shoulder. Too light to be noticed by feel and almost small enough to be overlooked. Hadrian would have overlooked it had his magical sense not been bugging him about it.

He reached for the bug and it flew off before it could be caught. As it was flying away, Hadrian made sure to make a parting shot. "My apologies Daphne, there was a bug on you and they always seem to be such pests." He said as he felt the magic slowly fade away into the mass of magical feeling that he got from all of the students. "Where were we?" he asked. He quickly waved his hands. "Never mind, I remember. In order; I was out for a stroll and things happened, leaving was not my intention but it just happened, and I went somewhere warmer than Britain. Though that last part could almost be anywhere in the world." He answered her.

He decided it was his turn for answers. "And what about my date?" he asked her. "What has got her so interested in little old me? If I remember correctly, your family is a potion ingredients supplier as well as brewers. I don't see how I have caught your interest besides the first task." Hadrian rattled off.

She crossed her legs and leaned back into her chair. "I think you have garnered interest in many more people than just myself. And why do you immediately assume that it's my family's interest that I asked you to be my date tonight? I think it's rather obvious the reasons I would be interested in you." She said. It was an interesting counter to try and not answer by claiming that it was common knowledge. It was meant to either bring up that you knew the fact or give you a sense of shame because you didn't know a supposedly common fact.

"There are many facts that would interest people, but I feel like few if not none of those common interests are what brought you here. You don't seem like the one to go after an average target. Heir to a minor pureblood noble family that has their business in trade. I don't see how I could interest you in the business sense." He started to cycle through potential advantages. "I am the second son of a family that has a charms mistress and an auror. Not much to help an ingredient business unless you count some of the wealth, though I will only inherit a small amount. I don't hold power within the Wizengamot due to me not being heir so that couldn't be it. I don't have any great connections to be of use to you." He figured out the only obvious explanation. "The only thing you could be after would be my magical strength. Which is it, escaping a situation, or causing one?" He asked.

Daphne had a rare, true smile upon her face. Most of the people within this school were idiots. They didn't understand anything beyond what they could do with their wand. Some of the Slytherins knew about the political system, but most of them only understood where they stood so that they could lord it over other people. One such example was making his way over to their table.

Hadrian turned to be met with a boy his age with platinum blond hair along with a slight smirk that seemed to be his natural facial expression. It was fairly easy to tell what family the boy came from. The boy turned and faced Hadrian. "Would you mind if I took Heiress Greengrass to the dance floor. It seems like she could do with a proper partner before the night is out." The blond drawled out. He seemed to just be baiting Hadrian.

"First of all, my name doesn't contain Greengrass. I don't see why you would be asking me when there is someone whose decision on this question would affect the way their night went. Secondly, do you really think you are a proper dance partner for a lady of her caliber. Why don't you go back to your two gorillas and we'll forget about this whole meeting." He suggested to the boy.

The boy turned a bit red but turned towards Daphne. "My lady, would you…" he started before he was cut off.

"No." Daphne flat out denied. She didn't have any desire to deal with Draco this evening. It was starting to shape up nicely and she felt no need for him to ruin it.

"You should rethink your answer. One of these day's my father will complete a contract with yours and we'll be together forever. We wouldn't want a bad start to this all." Draco said arrogantly.

"My father, My father." She said in a mocking voice. "Dear Merlin Draco, do you have anything other to say about yourself than the fact that your father can actually accomplish something." She chided him.

Draco's face was steadily turning red. "I would be careful if I were you. Your family's business could go downhill if my father put in a bad word." Draco threatened.

Daphne gave a pitying laugh at Draco. "Do you really think that your father would try to tear down a company that he buys from just because his son couldn't handle being rejected by a girl. How the mighty house has fallen." She continued to mock him. Draco didn't have a better come back and decided to leave with as much dignity as he could muster.

Hadrian watched the entire exchange with a large amount of mirth along with a sense of disgust. Mirth at how the situation was handled and disgust at how it exampled how a small percentage thought they could do as they pleased just from the 'purity' of their blood. He turned towards his date. "I'm going to guess that you want to run from a situation, that specific one being one of them." he said to her. She gave a small nod.

"He's used to getting what he wants and getting others to do it for him if he can't do it himself. I feel like he will eventually learn, but it won't be for a while. I just have to live with it for the time being." She told him and they went back to their conversation. They talked deep into the night while taking some breaks to go dance when a slow dance was being put into the rotation. Hadrian wasn't going to go around admitting it, but it felt nice to have someone his age to talk to.


	18. Magik

**Disclaimer: obviously I only own the idea of my story and not that of the original author of this series.**

' _French thoughts'_

" _French speech"_

'English thoughts'

"English speech"

This method is reversed in flashbacks

Not even gonna try putting french accents into the english portions

One person mentioned the discrepancy in the fact that I said Hadrian hadn't been at a ball since he had left and that he had been to one during his years as a merc. I should have made it clearer and said that he hadn't been to a ball for the sake of going to a ball since before he had been taken.

Chapter 18: Magik

Hadrian fell into a routine of getting his arse beat over and over by Rowena for the month following the ball. He had his spars with his sadist of a teacher in the morning and then it was followed by a small amount of learning to feel different types of magic. the rest of his day was spent talking theory of things with Hermione or getting to know Daphne. The spars were brutal although, he hadn't pushed his body as far as he had the night before the ball. There were some positives to him not being able to win. The benefits to the constant beatings he was receiving were his speed and control of his elemental magic were increasing, as was his ability to stay in his empowered state. He was able to stay in his state for a little over two hours before he would be the recipient of a world class headache. He headed for the Room of Requirement lost in thought. Multiple strategies were surging through his head as well as the mental preparation for the pain he would most likely be graced with by the end of it.

He walked into the room and was expecting to be greeted by their normal sparring terrain, but was instead standing in the middle of a large grassy plain that seemed to stretch on and on. His teacher sat peacefully, as if awaiting him to approach her. He walked over to her and sat down across from her. He had easily deduced that this wasn't going to be more of the same of what they were doing and was curious as to what she would be teaching him now. Hadrian waited patiently for his teacher to acknowledge his presence. The minutes ticked by and Hadrian started to get progressively more annoyed. After thirty minutes he finally couldn't take it and decided to break the silence.

"What are we going to be learning today?" he asked Rowena. She didn't seem to react at first and he wondered if she had fallen asleep. He started to reach his hand towards her shoulder to give her a light shake when she took a deep breath and opened her eyes. She gave a look at Hadrian and then around at the surrounding plain. She seemed to like whatever she was trying to assure herself of and pulled herself to her feet. Hadrian followed suit, eager to know what she would be teaching. She looked at Hadrian, as if trying to assure herself of the decision she was going to make.

"You have advanced far enough in your elemental state as well as your feeling for ambient magic for me to teach you some magik." She told him. Hadrian's face lit up in excitement. He hadn't been able to find any references to actual teachings of magik within the Hogwarts library, only mentions of when it had been used. He also hadn't been able to find any texts that would give him a safe option of learning it. Trial and error in this field was a huge risk. He had been waiting for the moment that he could find a teacher to show him and was thrilled to finally have someone to show him the way.

"We will be going over theory for the first little bit. Jumping straight into it would be idiotic. I doubt you would last very long before trying something wildly out of your control and sending us all to kingdom come." Rowena stated in a serious tone. She was trying to make sure that Hadrian was painfully aware of the consequences that would befall him if he tried to take this discipline too quickly.

Hadrian deflated slightly. He had thought that they could get straight into the lessons. He had read and reread the texts from the Black library that had contained what he could actually understand for magik casting and thought he was sufficiently versed in the basics. He was about to voice his opinion before the glaring eyes of his teacher met his own.

Rowena was annoyed that her apprentice didn't take her caution seriously and viewed it as just another one of the mundane warnings that came in so many of the textbooks. She decided that a more serious approach was needed. "I don't think you understand the gravity of what magik can do. Therefore, if I catch you practicing magik without my supervision or my permission to self-practice I will personally throw you out of Hogwarts and the wards towards your person shall become hostile. Do I make myself quite clear?" Her tone was dead serious as her threat was delivered. She also never broke eye contact with Hadrian the entire time.

Hadrian was taken aback at the start of the threat. His teacher had never threatened him for seeking out his own knowledge or getting into his own trials with his magic. He started to feel the gravity of the responsibility that magik users carried. He gulped and gave a shaky nod. "I understand." He replied. Almost instantaneously the harsh atmosphere faded away to be replaced with the serene look that his teacher had most of the time.

"I felt like you were not grasping the enormity of what I was going to teach you and the potential destruction it could bring. Magik uses ley lines to siphon the magic from the earth itself and is therefore extremely strong. Hogwarts was built upon a merge of seven ley lines. This is the main hub of Britain where most of the ley lines that are in this country flow through. While this means that it is easier to tap in and use stronger spells, it also means that a small mistake can spiral out of control and cause major catastrophes. Under no circumstances will I put the future of this country at risk for the sake of some experimentation gone wrong." Rowena informed him.

She didn't wait for him to acknowledge her speech and plowed on into her next topic. "Now that we have the ground rules laid out, we can get started on learning the theory around magik use. For use elementals, magik use is made easier by the fact that the ambient magic we are able to feel while in our elemental state is heightened exponentially. This helps us get a feel for how much magic the ley lines have to offer as well as where it would be easier to try and siphon the power." Hadrian hung onto every word being said. He bet his head would be swimming later today and he would have a hell of a time organizing it in his mind later tonight, but it would all be worth it. The knowledge being shared by his teacher was something that very few within the world knew or would be taught.

"The ley lines span across the planet where they overlap or merge at various places. Many places of magical importance are built upon overlap portions and most older manors within the British Isles are built on or near a ley line to help power the wards. Now however, ever since the British ministry banned magik practice because of the potential destruction people uneducated people could do with the art, there aren't any more homes built with the strength that the old manors held." That was news to Hadrian. He hadn't known that magik had been banned from Britain, although it didn't really mean much to him. He wasn't really concerned with the legality of his actions as long as they couldn't be pinned to him.

"It is also likely that the ley lines aren't as effective as they used to be. People can't create new links to the wards, but they also can't keep the old connections as strong. The connections continue to crumble away as time marches on. It will probably take a few centuries but those protections will eventually wither away in their entirety. Though I doubt this is the part that you wanted to talk about. I assume that you want to learn the actual theory behind how to use magik." She said. Hadrian agreed with her, but he wasn't going to show that any of her teachings were being disliked. She had a reason for most of the things she told him.

"We humans are able to use extremely small percentages of the power that ley lines provide us and the ability to control the flow is of the utmost importance. Imagine an irrigation pipe. Too little water flowing down the pipe will not get the water to the place that needs it. Too much and the pipe will burst and ruin the area around it except that now the amount of destruction you could cause with your mishap is astronomical. It would not be an overstatement to say that you could cause Hogwarts, the Black Lake, and a large portion of the surrounding land to become a large crater if you manage to utilize all of the land lines improperly." She stated harshly. Hadrian was surprised. He knew that people could do amazing feats with magik, though he didn't think the consequences could be so severe.

"Most people need a staff to help with the directing of such enormous amounts of magic, but our elemental abilities give us an advantage in this field. We are creatures of magic and in our states, we are able to feel and direct magic at a much more precise rate than any other witch or wizard. There were a few people who trained their whole lives to put themselves in tune with magic. They were able to get to the point of not having to use a staff, though it is not a very common skill in an almost forgotten practice. I have no idea if there is still anybody who could do it without a staff besides the two of us." Hadrian really just wanted to get to the point of learning about actually doing magik. He found the background information interesting, if not tedious. He would rather get to actually learning how to do magik. His prayers seemed to be answered in the following time.

"To do magik you must create a link with a ley line or ley lines. A merge of ley lines is always easier to use than an overlap. With an overlap you would need to create the same number of links as there are ley lines if you want to use all of their power. With a merge, you only need to create one link and it can be of a larger size that any single ley line will allow you to use. While the amount of magic flowing through ley lines is near infinite in comparison to us, the amount we are able to take out is not. The ley lines have a sort of primal intelligence and we are like extremely small ticks drawing blood. Draw a small amount and it doesn't seem to notice. Draw a large amount and it becomes harder to control as the ley line fights to kick you out from using its power. This is where many of the catastrophic failures come from. People who tried to take to much and did not have the strength to sever the connection when the ley line struck back. The magic that was pulled doesn't get pulled back and with no one guiding it usually becomes unstable, creating large explosions of magic." she finished with a warning.

"I think that's enough for the day. Your homework is to think about five applications of magik and how they would be applied. I will see you tomorrow Hadrian." She said as she disappeared from view.

Hadrian left the room, mulling over the information that had just been given to him. He had already been given one application of magik. Continuously siphoning a small bit of magic to wards that would then be strengthened many times over. If what Rowena said was true, then old manor's wards got weaker in strength over time due to the collapsing connection. Hadrian had noticed that many old homes had stronger wards due to the number of wards they had layered and the complexity that went into weaving them together. He could understand how the Hogwart's wards could be completely overwhelming. A thousand years of headmaster's putting their knowledge into protecting the place as well as a hub of seven ley lines coming together to provide it power. At full presence, he doubted anyone alive could crack through the wards and was really glad he hadn't tried to slip through his first arrival here.

He ended up walking outside towards the lake and sat at its edge. He sunk into his elemental state and practiced his feeling of magic. He swept through the entire lake and focused on the mass of magical presences he had felt the first time he had activated his state. There were close to 150 presences under the lake in that same spot and then the one large presence that Hadrian assumed was the giant squid. He could also feel hundreds of smaller presences floating all around the lake, though most of them were towards the bottom. He spent close to half an hour searching the lake for any and all surprises before stopping. He slipped out of his elemental state and sat there contemplating the uses that magic could have.

The next day found Hadrian back in front of his teacher. She stood in front of him with an expectant look upon her face. She arched an eyebrow at him as he stood there. "Well, what did you come up with?" she asked of him. She was interested to hear what his thoughts were.

Hadrian stood up a little straighter and his voice took on a bit of a droning quality. "You gave me this first use. The ability to link wards to the ley lines. I'm assuming that when you create an outlet from the ley line, you would wrap that power around the ward stone to create a sustained path for the magic to flow." He looked at her for reassurance on his guess and got an approving nod in return.

"Next, the ability to use large scale attacks that cover vast amounts of area. It would require tremendous amounts of focus as you need to convert all of the magic from the ley line into the magic that you desire to use." He stated. Rowena gave him a hand motion for him to continue. He was starting to get on a roll now and had no intention of stopping.

"The ability to be able to transport large groups of people along the path of the ley line that you are borrowing from." Rowena was slightly surprised by the thought. She didn't think that anyone had tried that before and started to analyze the possible uses and difficulties that would accompany this feat. Hadrian continued, not noticing her dilemma. "You could create a large perimeter around and area and tie it to the ley line, then move around the ley lines and come out at any part of a connected line." He looked at her as she was still deep in thought. She got done with her musings and looked at Hadrian.

"This might be harder than you think. You are trying to put yourself within a ley line and were suggesting that many people could take the trip with you. You would need incredible strength to block out the magic that is just flowing around the ley line, never mind trying to fight against the flow of magic. At full power, I might be able to shield one or two other people if I were to make a trip using this method. Any group larger than that would be swallowed up by the amount of magic threatening to consume us all." She told him. He looked disheartened that one of his ideas didn't come to bear fruit and she decided to throw him a bone.

"You shouldn't be disappointed. You are going into a new field of study that you are not familiar with and have thought of something that many before you have not. Failure does not mean nothing was gained, only that we didn't get to the goal that we had previously set." She said as she tried to cheer him up. It seemed to work as he gained some of his earlier confidence back.

Hadrian started again with his tone of confidence. "The ability to use large land area-based rituals. To take smaller amounts of magic and channel it into the surrounding atmosphere or earth to get desired results." Hadrian finished. Rowena nodded her head at that last one.

"That technique was used and is most likely still in use. From what I gathered from my student sharing with me, the Indians had shamans that used their connections with the ley lines to create the weather that they needed for crops. If there are any traditional Indians, they most likely have someone using this technique. The only drawback my student explained is that they didn't exactly know what they were dealing with. They just thought they were drawing power from the earth. My student told me that was how some tribes became more prosperous than others. By pure luck of the draw on positioning that somehow got them on top of a ley line." She informed him.

She looked back at him with an expectant look. He had come this far. "And the last thing?" she asked imperiously. She did want to see if he had finished his homework.

"The ability to summon things from a different dimension." Hadrian's thoughts went back to the story from Ignotus' journal. How a person had summoned a physical manifestation of death. How he had died before the remnant of death had even arrived. He assumed that the man used a ley line to start the summoning and god destroyed by the ley line after trying to take too much magic. The difference was that this time, the magic that was left over had a summoning to funnel into and that the remaining magic was enough to complete it.

Rowena looked concerned at his proposal and put down a warning before he went any further. "Summoning from different dimensions is quite dangerous. Not only because the strength of the thing coming through might be completely above our own, but because we generally cannot pinpoint what we do not know. This causes the summoning to bring something from somewhere random and completely different to what we were trying to bring in the first place."

Hadrian filed her advice away. "I wasn't thinking about trying it. I was just reminded of something I had read somewhere." Rowena gave him a suspicious look, but decided to let it drop for now.

"Well then, I guess you did your homework. That means that we can get to more theory for how you are going to control your magik use once we start our practical learning. I expect it to take a week at the least, though I will not hesitate to make it go longer should I feel that you are not up to the task." She stated at him.

Overall, it took him two weeks to get to the level that Rowena desired. The ability to recite the dangers and pitfalls, as well as the various techniques to break the connection should he accidently try and draw too much from the ley line, had been burned into his mind. The clear benefit was that he was finally going to be able to try to use magik.

The room had returned to the state that it had been the first day that his teacher decided to talk to him about magik. Rowena stood before him in full teacher mode. "You will be attempting small feats with magik. Make a tree grow. Cause it to rain. Empower a generic spell. I am here to guide, watch, and break the connection should it go out of control. This room will give you a safe place to practice and keep students from harm, though it will not be able to contain the uncontrolled power of three ley lines, much less seven." She told him.

Rowena waited patiently for him and Hadrian took that as his queue to start. He entered his elemental state and felt out for the magic. As always, the magic that made up Hogwarts surrounded him and flooded the entire area. He pushed past the castle's magic to view what was beneath it and took a deep breath at what he was feeling. It was as if Hogwarts was a lamp that had been held to block the sun and now the sun was no longer obscured. He basked in the feeling that the ley line exuded for a few minutes as he sat there.

He was knocked out of his trance when his teacher cleared her throat and gave him a gentle nudge. "It is overwhelming at first." she told him. "But you must not let it overtake you. When I was talking about the downsides of you transporting people through the ley lines, this was the risk I was talking about. That feeling overtaking you, increased a millionfold in intensity, would spell the end of anybody who could not adequately fight off the feeling." She warned. Her voice was back to a slight lecturing mode. "Keep your strength of mind about you when doing magik. Slips in concentration can lead to catastrophic failures." She advised him.

Hadrian settled back into the feeling that he was getting from the ley line and this time reached out with his magic to make a connection. Rowena could feel when his magic made the connection with the ley line. "Good. Now, try to make a puncture like a straw and suck a very small amount to yourself." She instructed him.

Hadrian did as he was told and tried to pull the magic from the ley lines. Slowly, bit by bit, the magic started to seep out. It had been given no direction and the meager amount pulled waited for Hadrian to use it. "Good." Rowena encouraged. "Pull with some more strength. It will take ages for you to get any amount of magic that is useful at this pace." She told him.

Hadrian pulled harder and felt the trickle turn into a steady stream of magic. The magic filled his strength and senses and the amount of magic he could feel around him continued to grow as he pulled more out. "Even more now." She told Hadrian. Hadrian closed his eyes and concentrated with all his might on the good feeling that the magic produced. He yanked even harder and the steady stream turned into a roar as the magic came flowing out. He was amazed at how much magic was flowing around him until he felt the connection between the ley line and himself become unstable. The magic that was coming out was now heated and angry. Hadrian started to panic. He had no idea what to do. He tried to sever the connection and found it to be fighting back. It was trying to send hostile magic down to him. The magic was close to reaching him before the connection was severed and all the available magic was directed somewhere away from the duo.

Hadrian opened his eyes and saw his teacher standing in front of him. He also saw the new forest that surrounded his teacher and him. The trees stretched on for a good 200 meters in every direction excluding a small clearing that he and Rowena were currently in.

Rowena looked at him. "This is what can happen when one is not careful about the amount of magic one uses." She warned. "I had taken precautions for this event and had a preplanned path for the errant magic that was still floating around." She pointed to the trees around them. "I pushed the magic into the earth with the desire to grow trees. As you can see, there was a decent amount of magic floating around. Although this presents the opportunity to learn about the possible way to sever a link to a ley line and live." She told him

Hadrian sat up a bit straighter. Rowena continued on to her teaching. "The first method is the one I used, although it is harder with a single person to have a set outlet if they are already doing something else with the magic. As I did, you would have to first sever the connection so that the ley line cannot lash out at you and then direct the remaining magic into a preset action." She informed him. Hadrian could see the effectiveness of having a partner in these types of endeavors. He nodded his headed to show that he understood.

"The second way is to sever the connection and leave the area with extreme haste. This method is presuming that there is nothing of consequence in the surrounding area. You would not want to be tying manor wards to a ley line and then leave after a mishap. The land would be utterly destroyed."

"Third is if u were accumulating the magic for a spell and had not yet started anything with it. You can use it to essentially plug the place where you are connected to the ley line so that it is not able to send out magic to lash out at you."

"The final way is the riskiest. You must use the accumulated magic as an extremely powerful shield and weather the storm from ley lines outburst. It is the riskiest because the chances of success are based on how much magic you had already gathered and how much the ley line sent out to destroy you. Tell me, what do all of these have in common?" she asked him.

Hadrian thought about it for a short moment before concluding. "You need to sever the link between yourself and the ley line." He told her.

She nodded her head. "You are correct. The ley line uses the link as a sort of beacon to what it is supposed to be targeting. The longer the connection is active, the more vengeful magic the ley line is able to put out. As you probably felt when you were pulling the magic, the connection between you actually manifests itself and is not just a metaphor. You can use the magic gathered to sever the link between you and it or you must use your own strength, though this requires a large amount of one's own magic." she told him. Hadrian had felt the link, though he hadn't known it was actually in this world. He thought it was more akin to how the goblet was linked to him, although less severe.

We can start upon the act of severing the link the next tomorrow. We will establish a connection, pull a small amount of magic out, and then use that to sever the connection. We will do this until you can do it ten times in a row without fail. When in a situation like the one previously, there can be no room for error. If I had not been here then most of this castle would be gone and you were only using one ley line. Imagine if you were using all seven. The amount of destruction would be off the charts. If you lost control while using all seven I doubt that even a single stone used to create this castle would survive. I look forward to your next lesson." She ended her teaching and faded away into nothingness.

Hadrian sat there for a few more minutes. The possibilities tore through his mind. Not just the uses but the consequences. The unparalleled destruction that could come from it as well as the unparalleled good. The ability to create entire forests out of nothing or the ability to create rain in desert countries in desperate need of water.

By far the largest thing that stayed with him from that lesson was the fear. The realization that death was coming towards him in an unstoppable march. The complete inability to do a damn thing against it and the complete absence of his mental faculties. He had no way of doing anything that would have even slowed down the attack from the ley line. He could completely understand why this practice had been banned in Britain. Most people who were going to learn would try to do something by themselves and have it backfire. The amount mental strength needed to stay within the boundaries of acceptable magic borrowing was extreme. The euphoric feeling that he got from the huge amounts of magic flowing through and around him was overwhelming.

There was no way he could have stayed within a safe amount and Hadrian knew that budding students would have no chance. He was grateful that his teacher was competent enough to handle something like this and had the thought that maybe, just maybe, she had let him pull too much to show him the very real and very serious consequences first hand. He was left with that thought as he got up and left the room.


	19. The Second Task

**Disclaimer: obviously I only own the idea of my story and not that of the original author of this series.**

' _French thoughts'_

" _French speech"_

'English thoughts'

"English speech"

This method is reversed in flashbacks

Not even gonna try putting french accents into the english portions

Chapter 19: The Second Task

Hadrian was woken by a knocking upon his door. He groaned as he pulled himself out of the sheets that were wrapped around him and headed for his door. When the door had fully opened up, he was greeted to the stern face of the witch who always seemed like she had sucked on a lemon. She looked at Hadrian and spoke "The second task is to begin in half an hour. The champions are to get whatever they need and to be down by the lake within fifteen minutes." She said brusquely before heading off down the hall.

Hadrian closed the door and went to put on a pair of swim trunks. Needing nothing else, he went out of his room and headed towards the throng of students all heading towards where the task was being held. He got a lot of looks from people, most likely them trying to speculate what the task was. He ignored the masses and headed down to the area where the other champions were standing. The only one missing from the competition was his brother. The general sound from the attending students continued to grow as the students filled the rest of the seats. Thomas came jogging into view as he arrived to the champions' area with ten minutes to spare.

This seemed to be the queue that Bagman was waiting for. "In ten minutes, these brave champions will go below the lake." As Bagman started his speech, other tournament coordinators were directing the champions into their designated spots to start the task. The champions started to take off their outer layers of clothes as they prepared to dive into the lake. There were a few wolf-whistles as Fleur stripped down to a one-piece and Hadrian pulled off his shirt to reveal a moderately sculpted chest. The champions then did small stretches to make sure that their muscles were loosened up as Bagman continued his speech.

"The champions have all had something taken from them during the night." Bagman said. That was something that confused Hadrian. None of his possessions had been taken last night and he had never completely figured out what that part of the riddle was meaning. He guessed he would find out when the task started. Bagman's voice continued to permeate through the morning air. "The champions will have sixty minutes to recover their hostage and return here. The cannon will mark the start of the task. I wish the champions the best of luck in their endeavors." Bagman ended his speech and his booming echo slowly petered off in the distance. So that's what it was, a person. The problem was that Hadrian couldn't really think of anyone. He wasn't super close to anyone at Hogwarts, so he wondered who they had picked. He could only think it was either Hermione or Daphne. He was leaning towards Hermione as Daphne didn't seem like the type of person to let herself be taken hostage.

With a few minutes remaining, the champions were itching to go. Hadrian looked towards the stands and back to the tournament organizers. They hadn't set up anything to help monitor the task. He thought that they couldn't be that stupid. He groaned and shook his head as he remembered one important fact. This was the British ministry of course they would be so stupid. They were the ones that would bring hundreds of students into a cold morning just to stare at the top of a lake while they couldn't see the happenings below. He waited for the couple of minutes before the task would start, already knowing the most probable place for the hostages to be held.

Bagman's voice cut through the air once more. "Champions, I hope you are ready. We are starting in 3…..2…..1…..Go!" he shouted. The cannon blasted off and the timer above the judges started its ticking. Both Diggory and Fleur put on bubblehead charms before diving into the water. Krum's upper torso started elongating and enlarging. He dove into the water before Hadrian could see the full transformation take effect. Hadrian looked over towards his brother and saw him pull something out of his pocket before shoving it in his mouth. He took a few moments before falling into the water. Only Hadrian remained on the stands and he then smoothly stepped into the water.

He fell into the cold winter water, though he didn't feel the effects of its chill upon his person. He activated his trance and located the village before heading in that direction. He dove deep enough so that he couldn't be seen by any of the observers and used his magic to propel him towards the village at extreme speeds. He arrived at the village in only ten minutes and was met by a small group of mermen holding spears and one holding a trident waiting to greet him. The one who held the trident, Hadrian suspected that it was the chief, stepped forward. "Greetings, my prince. I am the chief of this settlement. We felt you a few weeks ago, just enough to know that one is back into the world. I never thought that I would get to see one in my lifetime. It is good to see that I am mistaken. I assume that you are here for one of the hostages." The chief stated.

Hadrian nodded his head. "Yes, I am here for on of them." Hadrian decided that he had some time to kill before he needed to be back up to the surface. He was far ahead of any other champion. "But before I go, why give me the title prince?" he asked of the chief.

The chief seemed confused by that question. "Because you are. You hold power over the seas, yet you do not have complete control. Hence why you are the prince. There has been but one king of the seas and even he is thought to be a myth. I would very much like to be proved wrong in this matter." He said before ending the conversation and stepping aside. Past him, in the middle of the village was a large arch. The hostages were all connected by rope to the bottom and were floating listlessly under the arch. He looked at the hostages and recognized four of them. Gabrielle was on the far left, followed by an Asian girl with the Ravenclaw colors. In the middle was Hermione and he was going to go for her before seeing Sirius. The last hostage was Thomas' idiotic friend.

Hadrian went over to Sirius and was a little annoyed with his choice. What thought process did he have going through his mind when he chose to be a hostage. There was no good reason for him to get himself put under the lake, regardless if the person coming to get him was someone of Hadrian's skill level. Hadrian sliced Sirius' bindings and propelled himself to near the stands and slowly rose to the surface. When his head popped above the surface, there was a muted cheer. It seemed that he had raised a small but in popularity since the first task, although not by much. The other action that happened was Sirius flailing around like a fish out of water. Hadrian pulled Sirius along with him to the ladder and pushed him to it first. As Hadrian rose, Ludo's voice swept over the crowd.

"Incredible! Our youngest competitor is the first to arrive and has brought back his hostage in just under thirty minutes. With Ms. Delacour out of the running, we are just waiting upon the last three champions to complete the task." He announced to the crowd. Hadrian looked around and saw Fleur. She looked to be in a state of panic as she was being attended to by the nurse due to the cuts and bruises all around her body. She caught eyes with him and seemed to be imploring something. She rushed over, ignoring the mediwitch and begged him. "Please, please help my sister. She has no one to get her and we are creatures of fire, she won't do well under water." She implored.

Hadrian was about to say no just on principal before going against it. For one, because the British Ministry would be stupid enough to cause the death of an eight-year-old French girl and cause an incident. Secondly, because it was Gabrielle. The girl who was eager to learn magic and was warm to him. She was a light that he didn't want to see disappear from this world yet. Hadrian didn't say anything and just slipped back down into the water. He heard the incredulous shout of Bagman get muffled by the water before quickly being snuffed out altogether by the depth that he went to.

He flew through the water at high speeds back to the village he had just left and was met again by the same entourage, although this time they had confused looks on their faces. The chief stepped forward to talk to him again. "What brings you back my prince? I assumed that you had completed you task." He enquired.

Hadrian nodded his head to the question. "I did, but someone could not finish theirs and asked me to help. I am going to be taking the girl back to the surface." He told them.

The chief had a frown on his face. "Our orders were to allow one champion to take one hostage. It would be against the rules to let you take another." He said to Hadrian.

"That it might be, but I am taking the girl whether you have been ordered against it or not." He informed them. "I don't want to have to go through you, but I will if I have to." He threatened. He could see the some of the mermen tightening their grips on the spears when he gave the threat towards their leader, but the chief waved them down. "We will not stand against you as it would be folly for us, although you should beware who you threaten under the see. Just because you control it does not mean that all respect you. I wish you good fortune in any upcoming trials my prince." He said to Hadrian. He moved out of the way as Hadrian went to the arch. All of the hostages were still there and he cut the bindings holding Gabrielle down before starting his journey back to the stands. Gabrielle was significantly easier to maneuver than Sirius had been.

As he exited the settlement, he saw Cedric passing him. The Hogwarts champion gave him a curious glance before continuing to the settlement. Hadrian waited for Cedric to disappear before willing himself back to the stands. The trip back was quick and uneventful. He surfaced about twenty feet from the stands and the moment he pulled Gabrielle above water, she started coughing as the spell keeping her in stasis was broken.

She turned towards the person helping her, expecting to see her sister and was instead greeted to a boy who looked a few years younger than her sister. She panicked at first before she felt the person's magic. "Triton?" she questioned. "You look different." She told him.

Hadrian froze. How did she know? He tried to diffuse the situation. "I'm sorry, you must be mistaken. I'm Hadrian Potter." He told her.

She shook her head emphatically. "No, you feel just like him. It has to be you." She stated. Hadrian was starting to panic. It wouldn't do for him to have his secret revealed just yet.

"Fine, we can talk about this later, but you have to keep this to yourself for now." He said to her. She excitedly nodded her head as they reached the ladder back up onto the stands. It was then that Hadrian heard Bagman's voice echoing over the still morning air. "In what may be a controversial move, Hadrian Potter has grabbed not one but two hostages out of the lake in just over 50 minutes. Whether it will help or hurt his scoring remains to be seen."

Hadrian reached the area that Sirius was sitting at and shot him with a mild stinging hex. Sirius jumped up from his sitting position while rubbing where the spell had hit. "And may I ask what the bloody hell that was for?" Sirius questioned irritably. The mediwitch had turned around at the commotion and seemed to intervene before she was turned away by Hadrian's glare pointed in her direction. His gaze went back to Sirius, who was waiting for an answer to his question.

"That was for being a complete and utter moron. What the hell compelled you to let yourself be taken for this task?" Hadrian rudely asked him. Sirius seemed to have a smile grow upon his face.

"Oh? Was little Hadrian worried about his favorite uncle?" Sirius asked him in a voice one would use when speaking to a child. Sirius reached forward to pinch Hadrian's cheeks only to have his hand slapped away. "It's ok to admit it, I know I'm the best." Sirius bragged.

Hadrian didn't even deem to respond to any of Sirius' taunts. He knew if he showed any reaction that Sirius would never let it go. Although deep down, he knew that the reason for his annoyance rang true in Sirius' words. For years he hadn't had to worry about anybody besides himself emotionally. There were the occasional clients that he had to care for, but he didn't care for their lives beyond the paycheck and his reputation. Now he had the one person who tried to make his childhood bearable. He had no desire for stupidity or reckless actions to take away the person who had provided that early comfort.

Hadrian stalked away and the matron of Hogwart's medical wing started to move over to Sirius before being waved off. Hadrian moved off towards the waiting area near where the judges were. They were waiting on the second champion to pop his head up with his hostage. It only to a few minutes for Cedric's head to pop above the water, followed by the Asian girl he had seen tied down at the settlement.

"It seems that Mr. Diggory is the next to return with his hostage, barely making it within the time limit. Unless the next champions get here within the next minute, they will be over the time limit." Bagman's voice echoed across the water. It seemed that more people started to pay attention now that it was towards the end of the task. Most of the people must have been utterly bored for the thirty minutes where they could see nothing but a dark lake.

It was only a few minutes later that Krum's head, which was midway from dispelling his transfiguration, appeared above water. "Durmstrang's champion arrives just outside of the time limit with his hostage. We are now waiting upon the final champion to surface." At that moment, Thomas surfaced with his friend. "With great timing, Thomas Potter arrives last and just behind Mr. Krum. With all of the champions returning, we will now speak with the chief of the merpeople to get a better understanding of what happened below the lake." Bagman announced.

Hadrian snorted at that last statement. 'As if they have any idea what happened below the lake. The only thing they have a firm notion on is the time that we surfaced.' He thought. Hadrian saw the heads of schools headed off towards the side of the stands and saw the chief's head pop up out of the water. A screeching ensued, although not as loud as the sound that the egg output. It took a few minutes for the discussion to end before the merman descended back into the lake. The heads went back to the two ministry officials and had a quick discussion before all of them returned to the seats they had been in while the task had been going on.

"The judges have conferred about the happenings in the lake and have come to our score. For the first champion. Mrs. Delacour's use of the bubblehead charm was splendid, although she was taken out by the grindylow and had to quit the task. The judges have decided to give her 25 point for her excellent charm work as well as her valiant attempt to rescue her hostage." There was a polite smattering of clapping for the French champion, although the champion herself had her head down in shame.

"The next score will go to Thomas Potter. Mr. Potter had the help of gillyweed to aid him in traversing the lake. While he did finish the task, he did not complete it within the allotted time and is therefore awarded 37 points." A large applause erupted from the Gryffindor section as well as some of the younger years of Ravenclaw. Thomas himself was smiling, though if one looked close enough they could see the irritation of being next to last.

"Finish just before young Thomas was Mr. Krum who also finished just outside of the time limit. His excellent use of self-transfiguration gave him the ability to scare away threatening wildlife. He returned his hostage and has been given 39 points." The Durmstrang portion of the crowd gave a roar of cheers. It was a show of solidarity that neither of the other schools had. Krum held his head up high for his accomplishments.

"Next up is Mr. Diggory. He arrived at the 58th minute mark with his hostage. His use of the bubblehead charm was also well used as was his ability to battle off the grindylow that hovered near the bottom of the lake. We have decided to award him 44 points." The entirety of Hufflepuff and Slytherin as well as the older Ravenclaw students gave him an enthusiastic round of applause. Cedric raised his fist in the air in triumph for his performance.

"Lastly, we have Hadrian Potter. We were unable to discern his method of underwater breathing, although the chief of the merpeople told us he used a propulsion spell to move quickly throughout the lake. He arrived in the 30th minute with his hostage and then found out that Ms. Delacour had been taken out of the task and decided to go back and save her hostage. He returned from his second journey in the 51st minute and the judges have agreed that while there is a rule against taking another's hostage, the fact that the champion whose hostage remained was taken out of the task overrides this rule. We therefore award Mr. Potter a full 50 points in the finishing of this task." There seemed to be a shocked silence before he got some polite claps from people in the crowd who just cared about seeing some cool magic and didn't really care about the school competition.

In truth, Hadrian was shocked as well. He would have thought that the heads of the schools would have tried to take away points from him. He was missing something from the equation. Bagman then started speaking again. "Now with the second task done, we can call out the current standings. In last place we have Ms. Delacour with 62 points overall. In fourth we have Thomas Potter with 71 points. In the middle of the pack we have Mr. Krum who holds 79 points. Just above him holding 82 points is Mr. Diggory. Finally, leading this competition by a wide margin is Hadrian Potter with a staggering 94 points. We hope to see you all on the 24th of June. Congratulations to all of the competing champions." Bagman finished.

The reason for the judges' decision finally clicked in his head. He thought it was rather ironic that he was literally missing stuff from the equation. He guessed that the Karkaroff and Maxime would rather have an outsider who wasn't affiliated with any of the schools have the lead rather than give it to a Hogwarts champion. They could see that their champions were falling in standing and would rather save face by having all three schools lose than have Dumbledore come out ahead of them. He quietly chuckled to himself as the rumbling from the stands picked up from the exodus of the students. Some looked eager to celebrate while most just looked happy to be out of the cold winter morning.

Hadrian walked back over to where Sirius had sat down. He had cooled down enough that he wasn't going to curse or yell at Sirius again. They sat in silence for a few seconds before Sirius decided to break it. "That was a great job you did out there. You beat them all by a mile. I'm just waiting for you to tell me how you did it." he prodded. Hadrian just gave the man a raised eyebrow. "Fine, fine. Don't tell me, but I truly am proud of you. You outperformed people three years your senior. I might not like that you disappeared or what I think you did while you were gone, but it has clearly taught you to be able to protect yourself. I won't push you to talk about anything, but just know that I'm here if you need to." He followed this by giving Hadrian a one-armed hug. "Now, I'm assuming you don't want to go get anything to drink from the pub." He stated. Hadrian shook his head to confirm his statement. "Then, I look forward to seeing you thrash the competition in the last task. I'll be cheering you on even if I'm the only one." He said as he got up and headed along the shoreline in the direction of Hogsmeade.

Hadrian let out a breath to relieve some of the emotion that had been building up. He gave a look around to make sure that everyone had cleared out of his general area before speaking in a lower tone. "Just know that should I see any of this in the Prophet, it won't be pretty. You should remember that no one cares about a squashed bug." He said to what appeared to be nothing. He could here the slight buzz of the small critter flying away as fast as its wings could take it. He didn't necessarily care that she had heard what she had. It wasn't of any importance as well it lulled Rita into a false sense of security. He wanted her to believe that the first time had been a fluke. He was sure that she wouldn't be anywhere near him in her bug form anytime in the future.

He felt two familiar presences walking over to him and for all the inconveniences these two had provided him, the only thing he could muster for either of them was a feeling of annoyance. He looked over to the duo and saw the calculating eyes but genial look of the Hogwarts headmaster accompanied by the hopeful face of Lily Potter. He took a deep breath to rid himself of any outward emotions. "Is there something I can help the two of you with today?" he asked them blankly. Lily looked like she hadn't completely built up the courage to say anything, so Dumbledore decided to take the lead. "I was hoping I could get you to share your method of breathing underwater so that we could put it in the records. It's very rare that the merpeople don't recognize the magic used to breath underwater." Dumbledore fished.

Hadrian was relatively sure that Dumbledore had a good idea that he hadn't truly used any magic. He was also pretty positive that Dumbledore knew his secret, though the old man wouldn't let that knowledge out yet. He was still assessing whether Hadrian could be 'saved' and brought to the light. Letting the knowledge out would only give the other side a reason to become more interested in the youngest Potter. He decided to just deflect the question. "The I guess the records will have to be as incomplete as your knowledge." Hadrian needled.

Dumbledore gave a small chuckle. "I doubt that anyone can truly have complete knowledge. Even if you had it once, how could you ever look through all of that data. If someone like that did exist, we would just be an infinitesimal speck in front of them. I doubt we would even be able to perceive a being of that stature, much less communicate with it." Dumbledore said philosophically.

Hadrian rolled his eyes. Of course Dumbledore would go that route. To make himself feel more relatable to the person that was next to him as well as give the impression that he wasn't above the people around him. Lily seemed to be hanging onto the headmaster's explanation, although he couldn't see the insane level of devotion in her eyes as he had seen in some other people. Though if Dumbledore wanted a philosophical debate, he would indulge the old man.

"But if they are so incomprehensible, how would someone even come up with the concept and ideas of this being. To give life to the idea must mean that someone thought and came up with a concept of how a being of that stature would operate. The inability to actually think like a higher being doesn't mean that the ability to comprehend one is thrown out of the window." Hadrian replied.

"But if one can't put themselves into the other's shoes, how would one truly comprehend the magnificence of this being?" Dumbledore asked.

"The same way we understand the things around us, even if they can't communicate with us. We watch and learn and, at some point, come to conclusions that point us in the right direction. Like how we know how certain stars will move despite them being millions of lightyears away." Hadrian decided to cut this short. "Although I'm sure that you didn't come over here to ask me about the abstract, nor do I think that the magic used within the task is all you wanted. Pray tell, what is so important to take the time out of the day from the great Albus Dumbledore?" Hadrian gave a more mocking tone when he said great.

"I was only here to help an old student. I was hoping that I could convince you to join her for dinner at some point. I think she would be very appreciative if you could find it in yourself to at least try and connect with someone from your family." Dumbledore advocated.

Hadrian looked over at Lily. Her eyes seemed to water a bit, but she had a hopeful look upon her face. She seemed to think that Albus could help her through her problems even though him being there at the point when the family had been reunited had clearly not been a positive help to the meeting.

"Please Harry" she flinched at the scorching glare that she received for that comment. "Hadrian." She corrected. "Please Hadrian, come to dinner with us. We can try to work things out between the rest of the family." She pleaded.

Hadrian just looked at her with apathy. "I find it ironic that this is the first time you have asked me to come to dinner in close to seven years. If you are a little slow on the math, that's two years before I disappeared. What has become so important that you would want to invite me now?" he berated her. He pretended to think about going. "Let's say I did go. I would be at a table with a child who was spoiled and believes himself to be above the rest of the magical population due to something he most likely wasn't the cause of and has shown no signs of replicating whatever he supposedly did. Next would be a man who can't see his own faults and wants to live in a world where he can still call himself a decent person. He blames me for going away rather than his own shortcomings. Lastly would be yourself. A woman who can barely build up the courage to speak to me, much less connect with me on any meaningful level. So, answer why I would want to put myself through that?" he tore into her. "My answer should be obvious so I'll take my leave." He said before getting up and leaving.

Albus turned to Lily and tried to console the blown off mother. "There, there Lily. I'm sure he'll come around at some point." He told her, even if he himself didn't really put much belief into his words. It was what the woman needed to here at this moment. "Let's get you cleaned up and get some lunch. I'm sure Thomas would be delighted to see you." He told her.

Lily gave a shaky nod and started her way up the steps towards the castle. As they reached the front doors, Lily turned towards Dumbledore. "Thank you for trying Albus, I just hope he comes around sooner rather than later. I can take it from here." She told him.

Albus waved away the thanks. "It was no problem my dear. I believe that people should have a connection with their family. It is a sad thing to realize how much you miss it once has disappeared." Dumbledore said with emotion in his voice.

Lily looked at him a bit quizzically before letting it drop. "I guess I'll be heading out Albus." She said as she started to walk down the hallway.

"Until next time, my dear." He replied. They both split off in their own directions. Lily going to get cleaned up before going to see Thomas and Dumbledore heading back to his office.

Dumbledore reached his office and sunk into his chair with a heavy sigh. Things with the youngest Potter were not moving as planned. For almost half of the day, the boy's whereabouts were unknown. When they did know his whereabouts, he was in the company of people who didn't look up to him. Hermione Granger had once idolized him and other teachers, but through years of inactivity on their part to stop the bullying by Thomas and Ron had slowly whittled away her trust for any support from the faculty. His second companion, miss Greengrass, was a part of the neutral families and kept a healthy distance from any public affiliation that would hurt their neutral stance.

Nobody that was close to Dumbledore had gotten close to Hadrian and the boy was too stubborn and independent to be led around by the nose. The only person that Hadrian seemed truly attached to was Sirius Black, but relationship had been rather tense after Hadrian had disappeared. Dumbledore was afraid, afraid for the amount of destruction that young Hadrian could cause if he wasn't shown the right path. There were documented records of the harm elementals could do if they should choose and it wrote a bloody tale across the pages. He couldn't, in good conscience, allow that to happen again. 'I just hope that nothing too drastic will have to happen from me' he thought to himself. He ended that line of thinking with that rather morbid thought and went to change before he would go down to the Great Hall for lunch.


	20. A Piece Found

**Disclaimer: obviously I only own the idea of my story and not that of the original author of this series.**

' _French thoughts'_

" _French speech"_

'English thoughts'

"English speech"

This method is reversed in flashbacks

Not even gonna try putting french accents into the english portions

Chapter 20: A Piece Found

Hadrian walked into the Great Hall and was greeted by a multitude of stares. Most from people who were curious as to how he finished the task so fast and others wondering what others types of magic he has in his arsenal. A very small number were mad that he hadn't been penalized for his infraction upon the rules by saving Gabrielle. Speaking of the little girl, Hadrian could see her sitting at the Ravenclaw table with her family. Her parents seemed to be switching from overbearing to anger at the tournaments leadership if the way they were scowling up at the head table was any indication.

Hadrian took a seat towards the end of the table and started grabbing food off of the surrounding plates until he had filled his own. Seeing as he hadn't gotten a chance to eat breakfast, he was rather hungry. He started to dig in to his own food, not caring about the whispering around him that was mainly about him. He continued eating until a slight shadow was cast over him. Hadrian waited to see if it would move before deciding it probably wasn't going to. The person he was met with was not one he was expecting. Mr. Delacour stood behind him with an air of self-confidence. The type of confidence one gets after being head auror for many years.

Hadrian decided to start the conversation. "Mr. Delacour, I presume?" he questioned. It wouldn't be good to speak to a man he wasn't supposed to have met before like an old business associate.

Mr. Delacour gave a nod. "But please, call me Bastien. Anyone who saves one of my daughters shouldn't need to be so formal." The man insisted with more warmth than Hadrian had seen when he was working for the man. Although that would make sense. Triton was a seasoned killer who was doing what he was paid to do and Hadrian was a schoolboy who helped when his daughter asked.

"Alright then, Bastien. What could I help you with?" he asked the man.

Bastien took a small breath. "First of all, I would like to thank you for rescuing my daughter from the bottom of the lake." The man thanked him.

Hadrian shook his head. "I highly doubt she was in any real danger. I don't think the ministry would risk putting non-contestant blood on their hands." He told the man, and it was true. However stupid the ministry appeared to be, they had enough competent people to realize that killing an eight-year-old girl in their tournament would cause a large international incident. There were most likely multiple safe guards to keep the hostages safe throughout the task.

Bastien shook his head. "No. Regardless of the safety of the hostages for air and heat, it didn't take care of the fact for what type of people might be under there." He looked back at his family. "My daughters are beings of fire and as such have a rather rocky relationship with many of the underwater magical creatures. The grindylows swarmed my eldest and I assume the only reason that they didn't swarm my youngest is because of the mermen who were present." He explained. "Therefore, you have my sincere gratitude. I don't know what would have happened should she have stayed down there longer." He thanked Hadrian again.

Hadrian hadn't thought about that factor in his thoughts about hostage safety. Of course veela would have a harder time when underwater. It was just like the merpeople being uncomfortable outside of the water. Hadrian then readjusted his acknowledgement of the thanks. "It was no problem. I'm sure that the others would have done the same had they known about your daughter's situation." Hadrian told him.

Bastien shrugged. "Perhaps. Perhaps not. The only thing that I can say for certain is that you did." Bastien gave a quick glance up at the surrounding table. "Are you eating alone?" he asked.

Hadrian nodded. "Yeah, the person I usually eat with went somewhere else." He told the older man.

"Then perhaps you could come eat with us. I'm sure that my family would have no problem with having you sit with us." He offered to Hadrian.

"Thank you for the offer, but I have something to do after this. Perhaps another time." He declined the invite.

Bastien nodded his head. "Our table is always open to you. Have a good day Mr. Potter." He said before heading back to his family. Hadrian took another few minutes to finish his plate. When he did, he got up and headed out of the hall. No use in sitting around without people to talk to or things to figure out. He started to head towards the room of requirement and made his way up the first couple flights of stairs. He could sense most of the people near him break of to another direction, most likely heading back to the Ravenclaw common room for one reason or another. He could feel two people continuing up the stairs with him, though he couldn't see anybody behind him at the curves nor could he hear any footsteps.

He broke off of his original course and took a left instead of continuing on his usual path. Whenever he took a turn, the presences would follow. To be 100% sure, he stopped in front of a picture and pretended to be studying it. the presences stopped moving at the edge of the longer hallway he was at and seemed to wait for him. He turned away from the portrait and made his way around the next corner where he levitated himself up towards the ceiling. He attached himself to the rafters and waited for the following presences to come around the corner. The presences came around the corner and seemed to slow down as they registered that no one was in front of them. They stopped almost directly below him and just stayed there. He waited a few more seconds before raining down stunners on the area where the presences were at.

He felt both of the presences go muter than they had been and slowly lowered himself towards the ground. Hadrian couldn't see the telltale shimmers of a lower level disillusionment charm and concluded that the people were under an invisibility cloak. He reached over to the area where the people were and grabbed the cloak to see who was under it. What he wasn't expecting was for the cloak to connect with his magic then shimmer in his hands and meld into an actual cloak, hood and all. He stood there looking shocked before he turned the fabric over in his hands. Right below where the head hole was, sat the mark of the deathly hollows. Hadrian couldn't believe his luck. The old invisibility cloak James used to talk about was actually the one from legends.

He took off his larger cloak and slipped the cloak on. He felt a small rush of warmth, a similar feeling to when he touched his wand for the first time. He slipped his larger cloak on over the invisibility cloak before looking at the two unconscious boys before just deciding to leave them there. The stunning effect should wear off in about a half hour. More than enough for him to get away from this area from the castle. He swept away with nary a glance back, feeling happiness at retrieving Ignotus' prized possession.

He reached the room of requirement not long after leaving the 4th floor corridor and created the door for himself to walk through. He opened the door and was greeted to the sight of his teacher sitting in the middle of a clearing. She pointed towards a spot in front of her and he followed her direction, taking a seat himself. She looked at him for a moment, appraising him. "You seem awfully chipper about something. Care to share?" she asked him.

He seemed to puff out his chest just a little bit. "I found something I thought that there would be a long search for. Something from my family's past." He stated cryptically. She gave him a more studios glance, checking the wrists, fingers, and neck for anything that might look old and would give off a strong magical feel. He highly expected her to see the deathly hollows symbol as she looked at his neck area, but she seemed to sweep right over that in her search for what he had been talking about.

She sat back a little. "I give up Hadrian. What is it that you found?" she asked. Hadrian gave her a confused look. She had to have seen the symbol and he knew the deathly hollows were from before her time. She must have known the tale from her centuries of life. He reached under his normal cloak and grabbed the portion that held the symbol and pulled it out so that it could clearly be seen.

"I found this. I pretty certain that you know what it is." He told her.

She continued to give him a quizzical look. "By your demeanor and previous actions, I doubt that you are trying to trick me. However, I cannot see whatever it is that you are so happy to find." she told him.

Hadrian sat there stumped. He could clearly see the clock in his hand and was fairly sure that Rowena should be able to as well. An idea clicked and he reached out and grabbed her hand before bringing it to the cloak.

Rowena ran her hand along the fabric. "It is extremely smooth, but aren't you freezing in there?" she asked him out of the blue.

He looked at her like she was crazy. "No, it's actually keeping me quite warm. Is it different for you?" he returned.

"It's ice cold, and I assume that the feeling is only a warning. If I were trying to harm you or trying to remove the cloak I feel like something more might happen. Might I ask what heirloom you found that has this level of mystery in it?" she ended as she let her hand slip form the cloak.

Hadrian reached up into the air and first drew the triangle before bisecting it with a line and finishing it off with the circle that touched all three sides of the triangle. Rowena's face grew serious as she looked at him. "Are you absolutely sure?" she demanded. He nodded with enthusiasm at her question. "Last I knew about the Peverell's was that their family had dwindled into obscurity centuries before I was born. I assume you come from Ignotus' line." She half asked half stated. She received another nod in response. "Then I only have one tip of advice for you. Keep the knowledge of that cloak hidden unless you are ready to be hunted for the rest of your life. I don't just mean by governments who want to study it. I mean by serious bounty hunters, darker families, and underground organizations. People have killed for information about possible whereabouts of those three objects. I can only imagine what they would do for a definitive placement of one of those three objects." She warned.

Hadrian gave a small gulp. He hadn't thought about those people who would come for it, but he probably should have. Voldemort wasn't a very large deal in France, as he mostly stayed in Britain. That meant that the last dark lord the had faced was Grindelwald and he very famously used the symbol for his own, even if many of the people were unaware of the true meaning behind it. He could only imagine being hunted by Grindelwald and the generals in his army. That thought was enough to convince him to keep the truth miles away from peoples' minds.

He looked at his teacher. "Do you think it would be a better idea to hide it somewhere rather than keep it on my person then?" he asked her.

She shook her head. "No. There is no point in getting rid of something potentially that useful. Besides, as long as you don't use it in public places it shouldn't be found. I can't even feel an inkling of magic coming out of that thing which means that neither will anybody else." She advised him. "But while you have it here, let's see its limits." She told him.

He reached up to the hood and flicked it over his head. His teacher continued to stare directly into his eyes and he could tell that it wasn't doing anything. "I don't know why it wouldn't work. When it was just a large blanket, all one had to do was drape it over themselves." He said.

She shook her head a bit. "That would be a bit silly to have those same rules apply here wouldn't it? That would mean that most of your body would be invisible while wearing it. I assume that it has a way of measuring intent. Just will yourself to disappear." She told him

He settled down to give it a try and willed himself to disappear. He felt a light buzz of magic hum through the cloak and new instinctively that it had worked this time. Even if he hadn't felt it, the way his teacher was looking through him was enough of a giveaway for him to know.

"So, this is why it was so coveted." She murmured more to herself than him. "Can you move around for me?" she asked to what looked like empty air. Hadrian then moved around until he was behind her and waited. She didn't turn around to look at where he was currently standing. "Now can you drop it please?" she requested. Hadrian willed himself back into visibility and watched his teacher spin around to look at him.

"I guess the reason it is so coveted has been shown. Not only were you invisible but you were gone from the senses. I couldn't hear you move and neither could I feel any of your magic. your presence was erased from my senses. That means that you were entirely undetectable to people. If anything else comes up with the cloak, let me know. Otherwise, keep it hidden. People can go crazy when looking for the deathly hollows. For now, tell me about how the task went."

"It was way too easy. The only time-consuming thing was the distance between the stands and the mermen sanctuary. Speaking of which, they called me the prince of the sea. When I asked why they said that I had not yet become a king because I do not have complete control over the seas. Do you know what being king entails or how I would become the king of the seas?" he asked of her.

"I do not know of any necessary actions to become king, though the control part I could shed some light on. As an elemental gets older and uses their power more, they become more in tune with their element. Their power grows and they gain more experience controlling their element. I assume that one got old enough and had enough experience that he controlled huge portions of the oceans. When I was getting into my second century of life, I was able to spawn storms that spanned the entire British Isle. If one continued living for two or three centuries he could have controlled a vast portion of the oceans. For the actual way of becoming king, I don't know if the title was just given by the creatures of the sea at some point or if the various creatures have an actual agreed upon method of crowning a person." She told him.

Hadrian soaked up the information. He was kind of stuck on the portion that Rowena could control that large of an area with her powers. He knew that elementals could control huge amounts of their elements and cause untold destruction but this was a little more than he had thought. "Why isn't this more widely known about how powerful elementals are? I feel like more people would have written if people had this extent of power." He queried.

"A few reasons. First of all, elementals generally aren't going around at full power all of the time so the most that the majority people see are a fraction of an elemental's true power. Second, if someone was in one of my storms on the other side of the Isle, they wouldn't necessarily connect it to me because there is no way to see me. Anybody who was close enough and earned the ire of an elemental to that extent most likely didn't survive and the ones who did were probably on the side of the elemental. Lastly is that a single person doesn't usually see two elementals in their lifetime, if they even see one at all. They have to base their information on previous generations writings and people tend to think that the writers exaggerated the power for better tales." She finished her reply. "Do you know that Poseidon was an elemental and that the other 'gods' were extremely powerful wizards?"

He nodded his head. "Yeah. I read that in one of the Black family tomes." He answered.

If you had not read that from a journal of a very old ancestor and were told the story of Poseidon as it is known today, would you believe that this man even existed or would you think that people created someone to explain the unexplainable for themselves?"

Hadrian began to see her point. "I would assume that the mythology was just that. Myths that had a kernel of truth but have been twisted and warped beyond recognition by embellishment and time." He told her.

"Exactly. Power like that is beyond most people's comprehension. They don't think something like that can exist beyond some kind of minor deity, or major in some cases. This is what keeps most people from believing in what is possible and keeps people clinging to something that they think is more believable." She said. "Somebody that has the power to eradicate entire nations by themselves. Doubt it. Hear stories about them learning and their power only effecting their immediate surroundings. They can envision that." She mocked people's inability to accept improbable things.

Hadrian didn't move to intervene. It seemed like she had some history with these kinds of people and it wasn't the more positive type. He just waited for her to come down from her slight rant. She took a couple of breath to calm herself from her slight anger.

"Let us get back to your practice of magik." She ended that discussion and led them back down the path of teaching Hadrian. They moved to Hadrian practicing controlling siphoning magic from leylines so that he didn't overdraw and continued in that vein for the rest of the time they spent together in the day.

After having a house elf deliver some food to the Room of Requirement, he went back to his room. He was quite tired when he plopped down onto his bed that evening. He knew he needed to take of his cloak and go take a shower, but all that could wait for a few minutes. He let out a deep breath as he let his body relax into his bed as he bathed in its comfortableness. He had gotten to rest for nary a few minutes before a sharp rapping upon his door broke him out of his peaceful break. He reluctantly got up off of his bed and walked over to the door. When he opened it, he was greeted with the visage of a barely restrained James Potter. Hadrian gave it a couple seconds to see if the man would blurt out what he wanted and leave, but it seemed like the man had been told to hold his temper. 'Most likely by Dumbledore. He won't listen to anybody else.' Hadrian thought.

He looked at the man who helped bring him into this world. "Father" he said mockingly. "To what do I owe this monumental pleasure?" Hadrian drawled out. James seemed to need to bite his tongue to keep from lashing out.

"Hadrian" he ground out. "I need to speak to you about something from our house. Perhaps we could speak inside your room in private?" James asked with all the politeness he could muster. Hadrian was laughing internally. He knew exactly what house subject his father wanted to talk to him about. He also knew that the man was never going to receive what he wanted, so he decided to humor the man.

"Why not. Come on in and make yourself comfortable. Anything for when it helps the house." He spoke in the manner an old person who had been brought up on that motto would as he flourished his arms and opened the door. He stepped back and allowed the patriarch of house Potter to walk by him. James took a seat in the chair that was next to the desk.

James seemed to be in a difficult place trying to keep his response rational. "I heard that you had a confrontation with your brother earlier this afternoon." James stated, trying to start off on a place that they should both agree about.

Hadrian pretended to be trying to remember the incident. "Maybe. Let's see. I competed in the task, came back here and lazed around a bit before heading to lunch. After lunch I went to explore the halls and, oh yes, your son seemed to be stalking me for some reason. Couldn't fathom why though. He's been at this school for years more than I have been. He must know the layout far better than I do. I must wonder if he had other motives." Hadrian stated with an air of unconcern flowing around him. He retook his place on the bed that he had just vacated.

"From what I heard, you attacked him along with his friend and left the both of them on the ground after you had stunned the both of them." James stated with a little more anger in his voice.

Hadrian just shrugged. "What was I supposed to think. Two invisible people following me around into abandoned parts of the castle. One just might think that they were trying to do something they weren't supposed to. They might have even wanted to take out the competition for the Tri-wizard cup because I am so far ahead. I just happened to be the one that took preventative measures. I made sure that they weren't permanently damaged before I left." He stated with the confidence of an innocent man. "What is it that has you so concerned?" he asked as if he didn't know.

James' struggle seemed to become more pronounced on his face as the conversation went on. "It seems that after this incident a family heirloom went missing. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that would you?" James accused.

"You are going to have to be a little more specific. The house of Potter has numerous heirlooms from its many years of life so you will need to narrow down the field of which you speak." He continued on with the charade. It was so fun to see his father have to reign in his anger. Dumbledore must have known that he would throw his father out of the room if he started yelling and made it well known to James that this was the case.

"I believe you know of what I speak. The invisibility cloak that has been in our family for longer than either of us have been alive." James ground out. His fingers were constricting and relaxing as if he could just squeeze out his anger.

Hadrian acted like a lightbulb had just gone off in his head. "Oh, that one. Yeah, I know about it. It was what Thomas and his friend were using to follow me. I thought that Thomas had had enough time with the cloak and that I should get a chance with it. He's most likely had it for the years he's been at Hogwarts." Hadrian stated.

"Regardless of how you feel" he seemed to stress the last word "I'm going to have to insist on taking that cloak back. It belongs with the head of house or with the heir. Since you are neither, it would be inappropriate for you to be holding on to it." he said a bit smugly, like he had the whole thing figured out.

Hadrian just shrugged at that. "You can insist all you want. You have no greater right to the cloak than I have." he stated. 'You actually have far less.' He thought.

"I do have more right." His father stated with conviction. "As it is an heirloom of house Potter and since I am the Lord of house Potter, I have the greatest claim upon the cloak." He stated as his irritation started rising and Hadrian could feel him giving off a slight amount of magic.

Hadrian waggled his finger at him like he was a child. "Ah ah ah. You have your facts wrong there." He took delight in seeing the confusion spread over James' face. While you might be Lord Potter, the Potters only hold on to this heirloom because no one from its actual family is here to claim it." 'Until now.' He finished the statement in his head. "As such, the cloak was entrusted to the Potter line until the true owner could come back to claim it. It was the line entrusted with the heirloom, not specifically the head of the house. Ergo, your claim to it is no higher than mine." He told him.

James had started to leak more magic out as his frustration at his son was reaching new heights. "What load of dragon dung are you trying to convince me with. This cloak has been with the Potter family for centuries. It is definitely not some other family's heirloom." He spat out with anger.

"Tsk tsk." Hadrian shook his head in disappointment. "You have had the cloak for decades but never actually learned of its origin. You just took for granted that it was there. Now that someone else has it and you can't claim to own it more than they can." He mocked the older man.

James' temper seemed to reach its limit as he shot out of his chair. Hadrian mirrored the movement and James made the short way across the room to get into Hadrian's face. "Listen here, Hadrian. If you don't give me back that cloak I will" he started.

Hadrian cut him off. "You will what? Attack me?" Hadrian gave a small laugh "Can you imagine the headlines? 'Head Auror attacks fourteen-year-old son'". Hadrian spread his hands out as if creating the headline in mid-air. "That also has the consequence of me not being able to tell you where the cloak is. Or did you think that you could come ransack my room at some point when I was out. The wards around this room are enough to keep you out and I highly doubt the headmaster will betray the trust the paintings and armors put in him to try and break past one." Hadrian ticked down finger as he went through the various points. He went on to his next point. "You could try the legal route, although I've already explained that you have no greater claim to it than I do and going to court for possession over this cloak would expose to the whole world that we have this cloak." He stated.

The last option was the one he wanted to avoid the most. It wasn't that he couldn't win overall, but if he couldn't win with the case with the one Potter has no greater claim than another argument then he would have to reveal why he held a much better claim than anybody else. Also, even if he won at the on Potter has no greater claim argument, the world would still be notified that an old invisibility cloak belonging to the Peverell's was in the Potter's possession. It wouldn't take a genius to put two and two together and there would be a huge race for people to get it. even if people didn't know exactly what it was it wouldn't stop manufacturers wanting to look at it so that they would be able to make their wares better.

Hadrian got back to where James had left off. "So now I will reiterate my question. What will you do? You have no claim, no might, and no public opinion on your side." He was genuinely curious at what the man might do to try and take the cloak away.

James seemed to think for a second before pulling the card that had always seemed to work for his family. "I'll say that you were jealous of your brother and attacked him for an extremely old family heirloom and demand that you give it back." He stated.

"You could, but then I would just hand you a necklace and this entire issue would be dropped because it has the same issue as the court case. You don't want to tell the world what we have in our possession and there would be no way to pressure me into giving it to you if you couldn't tell people what it was. As for the jealousy part, there are many things in this world I could be jealous about. My brother being part of your family is not one of them." he took a step back and pointed towards the door. "Since you are foregoing niceties and moving on to threats, I think it is time for you to leave." Hadrian said with some force.

His father didn't seem to budge, staring him down as if he was going to intimidate Hadrian into doing what he wanted. Hadrian voiced out one last line. "You could leave of your own free will or I can have the wards throw you out. Your choice." He told the man. James took one last look around the room, as if trying to catch a glimpse of it somewhere, before snarling and heading for the door.

He reached the door and opened it before turning around. "This isn't the end of this." He said angrily before he slammed the door shut. His slam was followed by Eldric's voice. "That was quite rude sir. The door has not done anything to you." The armor said in the fading footsteps direction.

Hadrian went through his nightly rituals and got into bed. Not over indeed. He couldn't wait to see what James Potter would try to pull out of his arse.


	21. A Clear Mind

**Disclaimer: obviously I only own the idea of my story and not that of the original author of this series.**

' _French thoughts'_

" _French speech"_

'English thoughts'

"English speech"

This method is reversed in flashbacks

Not even gonna try putting french accents into the english portions

Chapter 21: A clear mind

The week continued on as it had normally had, besides the fact that Thomas seemed to glare at him every moment that he saw Hadrian. Hadrian had been spending a majority of his day in the Room of Requirement and had essentially stopped being seen by the rest of the students besides meal times. He had been practicing magik for most of the day and could feel himself getting better. It all continued till after dinner one day when he was headed back towards his room. He could feel himself gain another follower, although this one was much more welcome. He got all the way to his door before speaking out towards his follower.

"You can come in if you want to talk." He spoke out to his stalker. His statement was met with a small 'eep' of embarrassment from being caught and shuffled around the corner into view. The petite form of Gabrielle came fully into Hadrian's view. Hadrian stood to the side of his door and held it open for the young girl. She seemed to brighten up a little more and followed into his room where she plopped herself onto the bed. She rolled herself onto her stomach and put her hands to her cheeks. Hadrian looked at her

"Do your parents know that you are here?" he asked.

She nodded her head. "I told them I was going to thank my savior. Thank you for saving me again." She said as she got up quickly and gave him a hug to his surprise. He gave her a small hug back before she went back to the place she had just vacated.

She looked at him curiously. "So, your real name is Hadrian Potter?" she asked him. He gave her a nod in response. "I like Triton better. It seems cooler." She said. Hadrian smiled at her childish innocence.

He smiled down at her. "Maybe one day, that's all I will go by. For now, I have a name that is being used. I am curious of how you managed to figure out it was me." He stated to her, and he truly was confused. He had walked past the aurors that hunted him on the street sometimes and they never even gave an extra glance in his direction.

"Well, you just felt the same." As if that explained everything.

"What do you mean?" Hadrian asked, concerned other people might be able to discern his identity with enough time around him.

"You felt the same as before." She repeated. "When you were protecting us in the forest. It felt very cold to ward off people, but deeper down it was warm. It felt kind of like an uh" she paused for a moment, thinking about the word she wanted to use. She then got that look of when somebody remembers something. "Like an igloo. Cold on the outside and warm on the inside. I can't feel you right now though" She stated. She looked at him to see if that explained what he was asking.

"And you were able to feel that both times?" he asked with a bit of incredulity. He stowed the last part away for a bit later.

She nodded her head back. "Yeah, veela have a good sense of the magic going on around them. Mom said it was supposed to help us find partners, like how she found dad." She told him proudly. She was happy that she was good at feeling magic. "It's the reason being here is so much better than Beauxbatons, besides the being put in the lake thing." Hadrian gave her a little chuckle and she continued. "Everything here is so vibrant. Magic is everywhere and in everything. It feels like it's alive." She stated. Hadrian had to keep himself from mentioning how right she was. She kept speaking, unaware of Hadrian's inner thoughts. "At Beauxbatons, everything is like a nightlight and Hogwarts feels like a roaring fireplace at every turn. It's so nice to be around."

Hadrian listened to her go on in her childish exuberance. He couldn't say she was wrong as he had never been to Beauxbatons, and her analysis was probably accurate. Hogwarts had stood for a millennium and rested upon a large convergence of ley lines. Beauxbatons was created somewhere in the 1700's and he thought it rested upon one or two ley lines. The difference in the ambient magic would be significant. He turned his focus inner focus back onto Gabrielle.

"Hey Gabrielle, you said you couldn't feel the magic right now?" he asked her. She nodded her head. "How about now?" he asked as he released a small amount of his magic into the room. She exuberantly nodded her head. "Now I can." She said happily. He nodded and let it start to fade away. He watched as her face seemed to give a bit of a frown as his power receded, so he output a bit more and the small smile returned to her face.

"How about Fleur? Why didn't she realize it was me?" he asked her. She shrugged her shoulders then tapped her pointer finger on her chin.

"I don't know for sure, but mom says that she tries to deny her veela side. She said that Fleur wasn't able to control her allure too well because of that. Fleur has been complaining about being a veela a bunch when she's home for the summers. I don't know why she's so against being a veela. I think it's great." She said. Hadrian didn't want to ever have to be the one that told her why veela were scared of being veela. He just let it pass.

When he thought about her explanation it made sense. He mused that it was like being an obscurial to a lesser extent. Continuous dislike towards her heritage might have an impact towards her abilities from said heritage. He would go with that thought unless a better explanation presented it himself. It also gave him a sigh of relief. He didn't have to worry about Fleur finding out about him until maybe later in her life when she accepted that part of her but by then it wouldn't matter.

"Can I trust you to keep me being Triton a secret between you and me?" he asked her.

She seemed to look confusedly at him. "Why would you want that? Everyone should know you. You saved us." She ended emphatically. Hadrian didn't mention that many people would like to know him, but not for the reasons that Gabrielle had stated.

"One day, but for now can you keep it a secret please?" he asked of her.

Gabrielle didn't really need to think it over. This was her savior asking for something and it was so easy too. She just wished he would be a bit more open about it. "Okay." She said a bit more demurely. "But promise you will be known though. I want people to know the hero that Triton is." She stated.

He acquiesced. "Okay, I promise. The world will know one day." He told the little girl. He checked the time and saw it had gotten past nine and decided that they had chatted enough. "I think it's time for you to head back to your parents." He told her.

She looked crestfallen at that. "Will I be able to come and visit you again?" she asked. Hadrian smiled back at her and gave her a soft pat on the head.

"Anytime you want kiddo. As long as I am in my room, my door will always be open to you." He told her. That seemed to bring her smile back a bit. She went for another hug which he was more prepared for this time and was actually able to return it with a little more force. She let go and took a step back.

"I'll see you soon." She said before she headed for the door. Hadrian gave a small wave at the girl as she opened the door and exited the room. He fell back onto his bed with a sigh. Only time would tell if she didn't accidentally let it slip.

Nearly three months passed in relative monotony for Hadrian. The months had held lots of practice in magik, though it toned down after the first couple weeks. He was now able to control the flow of the ley line's magic as well as sever the connection in most cases.

He also got closer to Gabrielle, although that brought along a round of questioning from the Delacour parents trying to see what he wanted out of their daughter. Once they came to the conclusion that he had no negative intentions towards their daughter, they backed off and gave the two their space.

Hadrian arrived for his lesson, expecting it to be more magik practice. What he was treated to when he walked in was an office setting with two chairs that were facing each other and his teacher occupied the one facing the door. He walked over and sat in the remaining chair with his teacher's eyes tracking his movements. He sat down and her eyes stared into his with a piercing quality. He stared back, determined not to flinch and it was then that he felt it. The mind probe that made its way into his mind almost undetectably. It was slithering around the edges of his defenses trying to find any cracks or exploits that it could use as an entrance so Hadrian decided to end it and took a mental swipe at the probe to make his teacher retreat from his mind.

They both came out of the mindscape and Hadrian looked at his teacher curiously. She gave a small nod to herself and said "Good. You have strong defenses and a good awareness. Are you ready for today's lesson?" she asked him.

That comment set Hadrian on edge. Rowena only asked if he was ready before something truly trying or painful. "What is the lesson?" he asked warily. He knew it was probably going to be a painful night tonight.

"I'm going to show you how to break almost anyone's mental shields. This happens by using the ley line to augment your mental capabilities. Prepare yourself." She ended with her warning. Hadrian got a few precious seconds to gather his wits about him and prepare his mental shields before he felt the next probe enter his mind, although this probe didn't have any semblance of subtlety. Instead of feeling the calm and collected mind of his teacher he felt a primeval rage directed towards his shields. It slammed into his shields once and he felt his walls dent and crack. It reared back for a second attempt and there was nothing Hadrian could do against it as it obliterated his shields.

Rowena found herself on a beach and looked up at the manor on the hill and found the steps leading up to it. she quickly turned away from it and looked at the thing that made her apprentice feel at home. She waded into the water before sinking into its depths. She could feel her students attempts at hitting he away from the target she could now sense, but she negligently slapped away those attempts. She arrived at the underwater city and took a brief moment to admire her student's imagination before heading through the gates. She walked through the front entrance and was immediately set upon by the gigantic statue with the trident. With nary a thought and a small wave of her hand, the statue was blasted into thousands of tiny rocks.

Hadrian could only helplessly watch as his teacher decimated his defenses. She pushed past his defenses as if he was a novice at this art. His head was aching with the failed attempts to expel her as well as the shattered shields he was now sporting.

Rowena made her way down the street past all of the houses, getting brief flashes of memories as she dragged her hand along the walls of the houses. She made it down the entire street and into the middle of the small city where she came to a screeching halt as she observed what lay before her. The writhing mass of darkness and hatred permeated her senses, although she could see that it was chained down. She cut the connection and came back to her body and glared down at her student who was just coming back to his senses.

"What the hell are you doing with that?" she demanded with a tone that was sharper than anything he had heard from her. She was staring hard down at her apprentice and the oppressive feeling of her magic washed over Hadrian.

Hadrian's head was still groggy as he recovered from the attack he had just sustained. He was hit with a quick stinging hex that quickly brought him back to the moment. "You have about five seconds to explain why you have this disgusting magic before you are thrown out of this castle." She threatened with deadly sincerity.

"I don't know what it is." He stated in a bitter voice.

"You don't know what it is, but you have been here for months. I know you can feel it. The darkness, the evil, the slimy feel. You chose to hide it instead of coming to me.

Anger started to pour out of Hadrian. "Yes it's disgusting, yes it's evil, and it's part of ME" he shouted back with his anger fueling the words. "To know that thing is inside of me brought large amounts of disgust to myself, how would somebody else see it as. Especially the one I had come to see as a trustworthy adult figure. It is a vile piece of magic that has been with me ever since I have been aware of my mental faculties. This means that it's is most likely something from me, my hate festering." his anger bled into his confession and Rowena could see the genuine fear that was housed within Hadrian.

Rowena's gaze went to his face and she quickly dipped into his mind as she looked for any signs of deceit. Finding none, she came out of his mind and reached out to pull Hadrian to her chest. He was extremely surprised by the action and couldn't react as she pulled him in. She leaned in to whisper into his ear. "This is not you. Nothing about this is your fault and it is definitely not natural."

That seemed to ease his mind a little bit. He pulled back. "Then what is it?" he asked her, nervous to know the answer.

"Something that should never be created." She said with spite. "It is a horcrux, a branch of dark magic that literally tears the soul apart. Created upon the act of murder in cold blood, one is able to put that shard of their soul into an object and live forever as the object tethers them to this realm of existence. The one in your head seemed to be incorrectly made, but small, which led me to the incorrect conclusion that you had dabbled within this branch of magic." she told him.

Hadrian gave a shudder at that explanation. Just the feel of the magic was enough repulse him, but to hear how it was made was enough to make Hadrian sick. Hadrian could now understand her anger, though he desired to never have it aimed at himself again. He could feel the centuries of accumulated power that had swirled around her and knew that at his current best he would be swatted aside like a gnat.

Rowena had felt a few places where horcruxes had previously rested and they were steeped in dark magic. She had also held one in her hands, which she had destroyed with extreme prejudice. Within her lifetime, she had never met or even heard of a living horcrux. She needed to think about what rituals that were usable so they could get the soul shard out of Hadrian without killing him along with it. It shouldn't be too hard as she soul shard seemed to be extremely small, though that led to some more worries. Had the advancement of this technique become even more advanced to the point that people were able to choose how much of their soul to put into an object or, and she shuddered at the mere thought, had someone delved so deep into madness that they had created many of these objects.

"Hadrian." He looked over at her. "Can you let me in so that I might be able to research this entity?" Hadrian nodded his head and lowered the cracked and battered remains of his shields that he was slowly fixing. They both made their way down to the underwater city. They walked through the entrance and saw the statue in shambles as the pieces were being gravitated back towards the center to remake the statue. They walked through the street and arrived at the place where the horcrux was being held.

Rowena got a better look at the chains holding the horcrux down. They were more cracked than they needed to be to continuously hold it down, but she supposed that was her fault. Her attack had done a number upon her student's mind, but she would help him regrow it even stronger. She studied the soul shard itself and saw that it still had some shallow and weak roots left. She mused that it had been leeching off of Hadrian's magic until he had sanctioned it into its captivity. Still, it must have been here a while for it to have been able to still have roots, shallow as they were.

"Was there any point in your childhood that you were taken for an unknown ritual? That you went missing with no memory?" she questioned her apprentice, knowing that he liked to keep his past a secret.

Hadrian shook his head with a small smile, as if something about this was funny. "I did get taken at one point, but that wasn't the moment that this happened. I'm assuming that this is from our most recent dark lord." Rowena perked up at the mention of the dark lord. He was the one who thinned out the numbers within her school. "He came to my house when I was a baby and attacked my brother and I but was vanquished. We know not what vanquished him, but his body was gone completely." He told her.

She pondered over the idea. "He must have been planning to use your and your brother's murder for a horcrux creation. His soul must have latched onto the nearest magical object once he was vanquished, which was you. The good news is that this should be easy to remove. You caught it years ago and since it is so small it had been relying upon your magic to keep it strong. You removed its source of power and it is just a shriveled husk of the potential danger it could have been. It has a small hold latched onto your core but we should be able to remove it with enough care." She told him. That raised Hadrian's spirits. He didn't want to have to wait any longer to get this thing out of his head.

They exited his mind and came back to the room, which then began shifting into what looked like a hollowed out underground cave. The rock below their feet was incredibly smooth. Rowena walked to the center of the room and made some motions with her arms. All around himself, Hadrian could see inscriptions being carved into the floor. He took steps back until he was out of the range of the carving that his teacher was doing. His teacher had created a large circle and was now filling various parts with a multitude of different runes with painstaking care. He could understand some of them, but most were beyond his comprehension. Various languages being melded together to create a project that would baffle everyone on this planet but a handful who had dedicated their lives to the study of runes. Sometimes she would seem to rethink a rune she drew and would fix the smooth surface before drawing a different rune in its place.

Rowena was lost in concentration. A multitude of rune combinations flying through her head. Her thoughts were going a mile a minute trying to figure out how to meld different rituals. There were ones that could suck the life out of an object. It was a ritual originally used for exorcism on ghosts that had tied themselves to an item or a place. The only problem was that it would get rid of Hadrian's life force as well. Then there was a transfer ritual, meant to switch magical properties from one item to another that was a bit more specific, but she didn't know if that would work with a living soul.

She spent hours perfecting the various modifications that she used from all of the different rituals. She could feel her student watching her in wonder, creating an entire ritual circle from nothing but her magic. The precision that she used was absolute. Any rune that was used twice in the entire array could be switched with another of the same and have no noticeable difference upon the drawing. She then grabbed a magically reinforced bowl and pulled out a flask from her robes. She filled the bowl with whatever had been in the flask before placing the bowl towards one side of the circle. She turned to Hadrian. "Take off any magical items you have on you and come lay down in the center Hadrian and be still." She said as she pointed at the middle of her circle.

Hadrian divested himself of his trunk along with the invisibility cloak before he walked into her circle and could feel the ambient magic in the room growing to meet the needs that this ritual would demand. She pulled out a brush with ink. "I'm assuming you don't want me to carve into your skin with magic. I don't want to mess this part, so please don't move." She told him as she started drawing runes upon his face and upper neck that directed the magic towards his forehead. This took another hour as the runes were small and numerous. She finished and looked down upon him.

"This will hurt quite a bit." She told him. She conjured a gel substance and gave it to Hadrian. "Bite down on this." He took it from her and put it into his mouth. "When I tell you, I need you to drop the chains you have holding that thing in place. If you keep them up, the ritual will have to fight yourself and the horcrux which will make it hurt more." Hadrian could only nod, not being able to speak with the gel in his mouth. Rowena stepped outside of the runic circled and created a second ring and filled it with runes to freeze and trap the horcrux when it came out of Hadrian. This one was much easier to create and took just a few minutes as she had used it many a time when she had studied dark objects.

"Are you ready Hadrian?" she got another nod in response. "On 3. One… Two… THREE." She shouted and Hadrian released the holdings he had upon the horcrux. It immediately started to try to burrow its way further into his core but Hadrian pushed back. He then felt the magic from the ritual grab onto the horcrux and tug. Hadrian's head lit up in agony. The magic that pervaded his head was ruthless in getting towards its target and cared naught for collateral damage. He was pressing his teeth together so hard, he knew that without the gel he would be cracking his teeth. The ritual's magic now had a firm grasp upon the horcrux and was pulling it slowly out of his mind. The ritual felt like pulling teeth as the horcrux scraped and clawed at anything to try and get purchase. The magic gave one final tug and Hadrian could feel the last tethers from the horcrux slip away from his mind.

Rowena watched the writhing mass of soul and dark magic come oozing out of her student's forehead. It was brought a few feet up into the air and she activated her second ring. It froze in place, no longer writhing around. She could feel the panic and desperation coming from the horcrux.

Hadrian could feel every muscle in his body freeze up. He was only able to get shallow breaths and watch as his teacher tried to get rid of the horcrux.

Rowena pulled the horcrux towards the bowl and she could feel its struggle double. It struggled with all of its might to get away from its impending doom. She slowly brought it down into the bowl and, with satisfaction, heard a sizzling sound rise from the bowl. It was quickly followed by a scream that originated from the horcrux as it was destroyed.

Rowena powered down both runes arrays and Hadrian was able to breath easily again. He spit out the gel and moaned from the pain coursing through his head. It felt like a hippogriff stampede had run over his head and he had somehow survived.

Rowena levitated Hadrian as the room changed into a bedroom which she then laid him onto the bed. She could see the anguish across his face as she pulled the covers over him, but she didn't have anything on her to help him. "Mipsy" she called out.

An elf appeared before her and the elf's eyes grew large before she bowed and spoke in an awed voice "Missus Ravenclaw. How can Mipsy be's helping you?" she diminutive creature asked.

"I need you to grab a pain reliever from the infirmary. Quickly please." She told the elf. The elf gave a small salute and disappeared before returning in a few seconds with a pain reliever.

"Does the missus need anything else?" the elf asked.

"No Mipsy, thank you." The elf bowed again and was gone a second later.

Rowena got closer to Hadrian and whispered down to him. "I need you to drink this." Without even really thinking about it, Hadrian opened his mouth. Rowena was asking something of him and she had never hurt him without a purpose. Rowena poured the potion down his throat and he let out a sigh of relief as the feelings of pain lessened and his face became less contorted from the pain. He fell into a deep sleep and Rowena stayed there for hours, just watching him.

For the next two days, the school saw neither hair nor hide of Hadrian. His room was visited a couple of times by the youngest Delacour, only for Eldric to tell her that he wasn't available. Hadrian woke up from his long sleep to see light streaming through the windows. He stretched his limbs and checked the time. He was shocked to see that it was over two days past when the ritual has started the first thing he noticed about his mind was that it was like a pressure that he had never known about had been lifted. It felt like how a man who had limited taste functions was finally able to taste the entire range of foods. He had just assumed that the feeling upon his mind was normal because it had been that way ever since he could remember.

Rowena came into view and walked over to check on him. "How are you?" she asked the young boy.

"I feel better than I ever have actually. Thank you for getting rid of that thing." He thanked her.

She looked at the ground with a little bit of self-disappointment on her face. "I'm sorry I got so mad at you. I should have given you a chance to explain yourself. After all of our time spent together, I think you had earned that." She apologized to him.

He waved off her concerns. "I guess if something that was so against my moral codes was presented in front of me and someone I trusted had kept it hidden from me, I might have reacted similarly." He told her. That seemed to mollify her concerns about his feelings towards her and they were interrupted by the crack of apparition.

Mipsy landed in front of the two. She gave a bow before the two. "Hello missus and mister. The elves were told to inform the mister that he missed the third task reveal. It be's a maze." She told them and waited.

"Was there any more information about it." Hadrian asked. The elf shook her head, her ears flopping about as she did so. "Then thank you Mipsy." He thanked her.

"Mipsy is pleased to help." She said before she disappeared.

Hadrian looked over at Rowena to see if she had anything to input on the topic.

"I don't have anything more to teach you that would be helpful towards this particular task. The only thing I can help you is to rebuild your mental shields." She told him.

He nodded and sat up in the bed and got into a meditative pose. He brought his shattered shields into his mind's eye and waited for more instructions. "Rebuild your shields but leave small tunnels throughout the entirety of them. you will use the ley lines' magic to reinforce your mental shields. When there are no ley lines around you can fill the gaps with your own magic to strengthen for the time needed. For the implementation, do you remember when I told you that the ley lines had a sort of sentience?" he nodded to her. "We connect to the magic and tether it to our baser instincts. Protection of self, anger towards attacker, hunger towards prey. We use these emotions to augment our ability to use our minds. It makes our minds slightly less refined at the time of use, but makes our abilities so much stronger.

He got to work rebuilding his shields in this new structure for the next few days, and the rest of the time till the start of the task was practicing this new form of mental discipline.


	22. The Third Task

**Disclaimer: obviously I only own the idea of my story and not that of the original author of this series.**

' _French thoughts'_

" _French speech"_

'English thoughts'

"English speech"

This method is reversed in flashbacks

Not even gonna try putting french accents into the english portions

Chapter 22: The Third Task

The day of the third task was quick to arrive. Hadrian was spending the morning with Rowena. She was looking at him with a somber expression. Her melancholy seeming to affect her desire to give any last-minute tips. They were just enjoying being in each other's presence until Rowena broke the silence.

"I will be sad to see you go. You haven't hidden from me how you do not like it her and after tonight your obligation to stay will be over." She stated. Hadrian went to rebut her statement about him not liking it at Hogwarts. She cut him off before he could even get a word in. "I know that you enjoy it here with me, but would you be able to stay here and take classes like a normal student for the next three years?" she asked.

Hadrian made a face that caused Rowena to let out a small laugh. "That's exactly what I thought. While you could learn from me, I feel like it would be better for you to see the wizarding world to see the intricacies of magic for yourself. That doesn't mean you shouldn't stop by from time to time." She told him. "The headmaster won't even know it." she said, throwing a conspiratorial wink his way.

Hadrian smiled at his teacher. He would miss the lessons after this year. He wasn't quite sure what he wanted to do. He had debated going back to France, but felt like he had been given an out with the fact that he had disappeared on a job. Most people would assume that he had died doing the task and being overwhelmed by the large number of werewolves that had been in the cave. He would figure it out when he needed to.

They lapsed back into silence until the time reached midday. She stood up and brought her student up with her. She walked him to the door and turned to look at him. "I bid you farewell, Hadrian. I hope to see you again, though not to soon." She told him.

Hadrian smiled and, for the first time in many years, initiated a hug. Rowena reciprocated the hug and held it for a few seconds. "I'm going to miss you." Hadrian murmured. Rowena gained a small smile.

"And I you, my student. Now go and spend some time with friends before you win the tournament." She told him.

Hadrian took one long look at the room, knowing he wouldn't be back here for some time. He walked through the door, determined to not look back lest he desire to not leave. He made it down into the Great Hall with little fuss and was able to eat his lunch in peace while he chatted with Hermione about the types of obstacles he thought would be within the maze. At some point, the diminutive half-elf professor came up to him.

"Mr. Potter." He said in his squeaky voice. Hadrian turned to look at him. "The champions are to have family time before the last task. Yours is waiting within the Entrance Hall." He told the young Potter. Hadrian nodded in thanks and got out of his seat. There was only one person who he considered family and Hadrian was certain nobody but Sirius was going to show up for him.

He made his way into the entrance hall to find his expected recipient standing there waiting. His eyes lit up as they locked onto his godson. Sirius met him halfway and looked at him. "You look good for somebody about to compete in the final task of a tournament that has taken so many lives." Sirius said half teasing, half concerned.

Hadrian waved off the latter half. "I should be fine, there isn't anything I can't handle that they would put in there." Hadrian said with confidence and it was true. The ley lines beneath Hogwarts meant that if he truly needed to go all out, there would be nothing stopping him from doing so. He doubted there would be such things within the maze thought, as something of that nature would mean almost certain death for the other competitors.

The confidence in that statement seemed to ease some of Sirius' worries. Sirius' face took an easier look upon it. "On the other hand, though I wasn't there to see it, I heard that the second task was extremely boring because there was no way to watch it, so they came up with something to view each of the champions from the outside." Sirius told him.

That was news to Hadrian. He had assumed that he would have free reign beyond any tournament approved people monitoring the champions to make sure nothings illegal went down, if they even did that. It would probably force him to have to conform more to how the task was meant to be done rather than using his own methods to get ahead. "At least the Ministry actually thought of something for this. It was probably a huge mark against us on the international scale when they didn't plan for the lake event properly." Hadrian said.

Sirius didn't make a remark but he had heard some whisperings around the Wizengamot of the older families being annoyed that their connections from foreign countries had been given something to needle them about. "It was probably something like that." He deflected. "You know I'll be rooting for you in the stands tonight. Now, if you will excuse me, I haven't been in this castle for ages and I'm going to wander around." Sirius said. "Plus, I heard there was a rather fetching young arithmancy teacher and I would like to see if she would like to make use of some of my favorite broom closets." Sirius added in.

Hadrian just rolled his eyes and waved off Sirius, not even bothering to deign his words with a response. Sirius left, leaving Hadrian alone in the Entrance Hall. He was about to head out when he heard footsteps approaching him. He turned to the nervous face of Lily Potter. He stood impassively, waiting to see if the woman could even gather enough courage to speak to him.

Lily herself just tried to swallow her nervousness as well as she could. Looking into her son's eyes, she could see nothing but coldness and apathy lurking there. She shook her head, it didn't matter. She would keep trying to right her wrongs. "I just wanted to wish you good luck." She said quietly. "Parents shouldn't be pushing for one child over another." She said with double meaning. It was as close to an apology as he could get without it actually turning into one.

Hadrian just shrugged it off. He could see that this was hard for her and, unlike the other males of his family, she wasn't so unbearable. He just gave a short nod before walking off.

Lily stood there staring at the back of her son. The response she got was better than the one she expected, but not nearly as good as the one she hoped for. She watched him go before rejoining her other son and her husband.

The next few hours for Hadrian were spent sitting in the library with Hermione and discussing some of the theory that had popped up on her homework. At first, she had tried to help think of anything that could help him in the task but he had waved her off. He was more than prepared for what could be thrown at him and studying something right now wouldn't be that useful. He was eventually approached by the diminutive charms teacher. "Mr. Potter, the champions are being asked to come down to the pitch." The professor squeaked out.

Hadrian nodded and got up. He said his goodbyes to Hermione which she looked at him suspiciously for his wording but soon let it go. He hadn't told anyone that he was planning to leave the second the task was finished. He followed the professor down a path that led to a tent that had been set up right outside of the stands at the front of the maze. He walked in and saw that he was the last one to arrive. He walked over to the side of the tent and stood as he waited for the tournament officials to arrive.

It didn't take long for Bagman and the Weasley to come into the tent. Ludo seemed to almost be bouncing with excitement. "Gentleman and lady, welcome to the starting point for the third task." He announced. "This task places the Tri-Wizard Cup in the center of the maze which has been filled with many different obstacles. A varied learning of magic will server you well within this task. While some are rather harmless and are just for distractions, some are dangerous. Not to worry though, as our staff will be monitoring the maze and if one should desire to give up and forfeit their chance at glory or find themselves in a terrifying position, they need only send up red sparks and one of our officials shall come by to help them to safety." Ludo instructed them. "We shall be staggering the entrances to the maze. As the frontrunner, Hadrian Potter shall go in first. Three minutes later and Mr. Diggory will enter. Three minutes after that comes Mr. Krum. Then it shall be the other Mr. Potter trailed by the lovely Ms. Delacour." He told them.

Bagman reached into his pocket and pulled out wristbands that were numbered one through five. He handed out each one to the person with the corresponding placement in the tournament. They each slipped them on and Hadrian could feel a small field of magic surround him. "These will allow the crowd to see you while you are in the maze. They are connected some large mirrors in front of the stands that will display all five points of view." He told them. Hadrian could probably cut the connection between the wristband and mirror, but they would most likely look for him if that happened and he wouldn't have the chance to win. They could now start to hear the loud rumble of footsteps that accompanied people taking seats in the stands. Bagman looked at each of the champions in the eye. "I wish you all the best of luck and for a good show. We will be starting in a couple of minutes. I will call you one by one to introduce you to the crowd." He said to them.

He left the tent and they were ushered by the tournament organizers to be under the stands where they were separated to different gates. It was only when the rumbling started to die down, signaling that people had found their desired seats, that they heard Bagman's loud voice boom into the fading day. "Welcome ladies and gentlemen, to the final task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament!" Bagman stated with exuberance. He was greeted by a large roar of approval from the crowd. "Now, now, I know you are all excited but I need to explain the way this task will be run." He went on to reiterate what he had told the champions earlier.

"Now that the boring part is out of the way, we can get to the fun stuff. First off, the man who needs no introduction but will receive one anyway, our leading champion and winner of both task, Hadrian Potter." The amount of cheering that Hadrian got was a lot more than he had expected. The doors in front of him opened and he was walked through a small gap in the stadium seats. There were many people leaning over the railings, trying to just get a touch of him but he ignored it. He could see five large mirrors floating in the air facing the stands and the one facing him was displaying the area he was standing in. Hadrian walked out to a small circle past the mirrors that was marked with a small floating Hadrian Potter.

He got to the circle and faced the crowd. He could hear Bagman shouting praise and starting to introduce Krum but he ignored it. He was studying the way that the stands were set up. The stands were split into five sections in a semi-circle. Each section of the stands was better suited for one of the screens and he could see large banners with the picture of a champion over each section. There was also a walking section at the bottom for the people who wanted to travel back and forth between champions. Hadrian was honestly surprised to see that his section was nearly full. Students and adults filled the stands and he could see various people who looked like they were here on an official capacity from different countries.

'Interesting. They use the task as a scouting ground for business. I guess that you don't need to win this tournament to get a positive rep in the professional world.' He thought. He could also see the blubbering Minister of Magic for Britain talking to some foreign dignitaries, though they were under the watchful eyes of a few aurors. His eyes flittered over his section and he could see Sirius sitting with a blushing lady who he had seen at the professor's table, which meant she was professor vector. While Hadrian had no burning desire to be like Sirius, he had to admit that his charms were extremely effective against some women.

Hadrian let his mind roam while Bagman finished up the introductions. He focused back in as Fleur made it to her circle. "With all of these introductions finished it is time for the main event." His booming voice was drowned out by the cheers. "At the sound of the cannon, it will be Mr. Potter's turn to enter the maze." Hadrian glanced at the opening in the hedges then looked back at Bagman. "Let's count down for the start." Bagman pointed at the screen for Hadrian, which Hadrian assumed had numbers overlaying his video feed. "10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1, GOOOO!" The go was accompanied by loud cheering and an even louder sound from an erupting cannon. Hadrian strode into the maze with a confident gate. His strides were at a speed just below a jog. He felt no need to run through the maze but he knew he couldn't turtle through it either. He came to the first wall in the maze and made the choice to turn left. He knew that they had started on the south side and used the point me spell to head in the correct direction. He also tried to let out his senses to feel for potential obstacles, but couldn't feel more than one or two rows over because of the amount of magic that the hedges were soaked in. 'Guess I'll have to do this like a rat.' Hadrian thought. Hadrian took a few turns before he reached the first obstacle of the task. It was a mist above the ground that was glowing golden. He felt the magic and didn't feel any ill intent from the mist and seemed to be there to make the person approaching it feel more cautious. He walked up to the point right before it affected anything and looked down. He ripped out the grass from the ground where he felt the magic flowing from. He saw the runes that were keeping the magic running and destroyed the ground the runes had been carved into. The mist flickered and died after a few seconds and Hadrian calmly walked through.

Hadrian heard the cannon go off and knew that Diggory was now in the maze. He continued on his path, checking every once in a while to make sure that he was heading in the direction he needed to be. The next obstacle he ran into was a huge spider. It was ten feet tall and it seemed to just be wandering the maze. It saw Hadrian come around the corner and its pincers clicked menacingly before it made a dash towards the champion. Hadrian watched as it made its way down the corridor without any nervousness. He reached into the earth and pulled it up to wrap around the spider's legs. The spider went sprawling across the ground and, without hesitation, Hadrian sharpened the earth before driving it through the acromantula. Hadrian walked closer to the creature and sent an overpowered cutting curse to make sure that the creature was dead.

He continued on the path he turned twice more before reaching a dead end and had to backtrack. He then heard the third cannon of the night, bringing Krum's entrance with it. Hadrian got to the next fork and took a left. He was making his way through the clear row when his ankle was grabbed and pulled. He fell onto his back and looked towards what had grabbed him. He saw devil's snare wrapped around his ankle as well as more vines reaching out towards him. He fired a cutting curse at the vine holding him down and scooted back away from the vines, trying quickly to regain his footing. He was able to get up to his feet as more vines shot forward to try and latch onto him. He sent some minor cutting curses at the vines and tried to look for the source of the vines. It was extremely difficult because of the fact that the maze has such a similar magical feel to it. Hadrian got annoyed of looking for the source and just started burning the area around him. He sent fire in a ring around him that grew in intensity and area. It eventually consumed all of the area within a 40-foot radius around him.

Hadrian looked around at the huge amount of charred grass. It was in stark contrast to the hedge that was already healing itself from the fire. It currently looked as if it was early spring and the leaves were just coming back in. He headed off to the end of the row and tried to find the clearest path. He headed into the area where he couldn't find any presences and went towards the most likely path that would lead there. The cannon had gone off again while he was battling the devil's snare, which meant that it would only go off once more tonight. He went down the path, extending his sense before every turn and came to a point where both directions led to confrontation.

He headed towards the right and towards the smaller of the presences. He came face to face with what looked like a genetically altered crab. It had large claws and Hadrian could see plasma dripping from its backside. The thing took one look at him and literally launched itself, using its burning rear end to send out a blast and propel itself at high speeds towards Hadrian. The speed at which it was coming stunned Hadrian before he dove to the side, however the split second of hesitation ended up costing him in the form of some small singing on his left side. He got up as the creature was turning around for round two and hurried to conjure as much water as possible. He created a large ball of water right as the thing was starting its charge. It ended up ramming straight into the water where its speed was not enough to push it through the ball. Hadrian quickly froze the ball and sent a strong exploding curse. He created a light shield around himself as the shards of ice flew through the air and were deflected when they got close to Hadrian.

Hadrian looked at the scattered remains of the creature. 'What the hell was that?' Hadrian thought. It was nothing like he had ever seen or read about. It was like someone was trying to create a deadlier monster for the tournament. Hadrian wondered if there were more, as well as how the other champions were going to fare. He pushed on further into the maze while avoiding all obstacles he could. He heard the final horn go off, signaling that all five champions were now within the maze's walls.

Hadrian took a couple breaths to calm his heart from the adrenaline burst he got from facing that crab thing. He checked his direction and grunted when he saw that he had drifted too far east trying to dodge all of the obstacles. He started taking the westward facing routes and was okay for a few turns but could feel presences blocking the path. He walked down the path and came close to a floating object. As he got close he could see that it was Hogwarts, but different from how it was currently. The walls were broken and in shambles, stacked no higher than three floors in any place as the structural supports had all collapsed. Hadrian knew what it was, though he spent a minute just looking at it. 'Riddikulus' Hadrian thought. The boggart changed into a bounce house that had streamers shooting out of its openings as Hadrian made his way past the transformed boggart. His fear did get a set of raised eyebrows from a certain headmaster.

Hadrian walked to the end of the row and continued on his way. He knew why that was his boggart. He had very little love for Hogwart's itself and wouldn't have cared for the building if it didn't have what he cared for tied to it. If Hogwarts was ever truly destroyed, he knew that Rowena would be gone forever and that was something that he didn't want to happen in his lifetime.

He walked until he came into a row with a glistening silver liquid covering a twenty-meter length in the middle. He walked to the edge and felt for the magic and intent and could feel almost none. He felt around the air and figured that it was safe to cross above. He created a wooden bridge that spanned the length of the large puddle and started to walk across. He had made it about halfway before he started feeling drowsy and his vision started going slightly blurry. He felt around for any curse as he took another breath and felt the drowsiness increase. 'The air.' He thought as he quickly cast the bubblehead charm around his head and was rewarded with a rush of oxygen and clarity. He crossed the rest of the bridge and put his feet onto solid ground. He looked back at the pool. He hadn't seen anything like it before and pondered on it for a second before thinking of a solution, potions. There fumes were known to have potential to be extremely toxic to wizards and he could only assume that something with the size that the pool had would create a large area of fumes.

Hadrian approximated that he had been in the maze for 20 minutes already and knew he needed to hurry if he didn't want the others to catch up to him. He was then going from row to row, nothing in his way but not feeling like he was getting any closer to the cup. He spent another five minutes wandering the maze and was starting to worry that someone else would beat him to the cup. He got to a fork, one path veered heavily off to the southwest and one that headed north, though the one that headed north had a large presence sitting in the middle of it. Hadrian knew that he didn't have time to double back and take the long way around at this point and went to meet the presence.

The creature that came into his gaze was not one that he was excited to see. A giant dog with three heads barred his path. The heads perked up as the noticed him and a low growl permeated through the air. He could see each of the heads baring their teeth at him. Beyond the dog he could glimpse a floating and slightly glowing cup. The cerberus seemed to be his last obstacle that he needed to face in the maze. He looked up at the beast and weighed his options on how to handle this. 'Come on Hadrian, think.' He told himself. He knew that there was a way that didn't involve combat, but at the current time he couldn't think of it.

He stayed and watched the cerberus. The beast was waiting on its haunches, ready for if Hadrian dared to try and enter the area it was guarding. Hadrian didn't have the time to wait to remember the secret of how to pass a cerberus to come to his mind and he wasn't about to lose to some other champion. 'I'm sorry. You don't deserve this for them putting you here' He thought morosely as he prepared for his next move. He grabbed a very small amount of the ley line's magic as he started to walk forward. The heads growled at him more ferociously before launching themselves at him, taking his steps as a provocative message. They had barely gotten five meters before Hadrian unleashed his next spell.

Instead of a normal cutting curse being released, one that released close to 25 slashes barreled down the row. With the cerberus being so big, it had no where to dodge and curled in on itself to protect its more vulnerable spots. It mattered not, however, as the spells sliced straight through the cerberus. The spell sliced him so many which ways that blood was flying in all directions. The cerberus barely had time to howl in pain before it was completely dead. He walked past his final obstacle with a morose look on his face. Unlike some of the other creatures in this maze, cerberuses were decently intelligent and he was sorry that he had to rid the world of one for a simple competition. Hadrian could feel another presence, this one of a wizard, towards the upper parts of the hedge. It disappeared as Hadrian was about three quarters of the way down the row.

Hadrian assumed it was a tournament watcher, going to check on the other champions now that he was in the clear for the victory. Hadrian reached where the cup was floating and looked at it. It seemed to have a portkey function tied into it, most likely to take him back to the crowd. He then looked around at the multitude of avenues that led to this point. Some of them had obstacles in them while others did not. He caught a glimpse of a shadow moving in one of them and turned to look. He could see his brother with his head down, he was running and took a peek up to see that Hadrian was standing next to the cup with a smirk on his face. Thomas raised his wand to fire a stunner, but it would never connect as Hadrian grabbed the cup and vanished.

Barty Crouch Jr. was annoyed. Changes to the way that the task was viewed made his job a lot harder. He couldn't go to sabotage other champions nor could he remove obstacles that were to close to the Potter heir. He had to take targets out that were far away and hope that young Thomas took that path. There was one thing he enjoyed about this task though. All of the watchers were under disillusion charms and he was able to be in his own body. He went to check on the other champions and found the other Potter walking past a diced up cerberus. He shook his head. His master would be mad at his failure to secure the boy-who-lived, but perhaps the other sibling would work just as well. He then popped away to his second part of his job.

Hadrian was wrenched around far more than he thought for a short-range portkey. The portkey spat him out and he was able to keep his footing, but he was not quick enough to dodge the cutting spell that he felt coming at him when he landed. He dove to the side as he felt the magic coming at him but the spell still caught him in the left thigh. Some blood splashed down onto the ground from the wound as Hadrian felt more spells heading his way. He raised a shield and heard the light clangs that came with the spells impacting his shield. From the very beginning he was on the backfoot, the surprise that came from being attacked right as he was deposited had given his attacker the benefit of being the aggressor. He had no chance to take stock of his surroundings as he was being kept on the defensive.

His attacker kept coming at him with unrelenting aggression, sending spells at him with a speed that would make most professional duelists green with envy. He pushed Hadrian away from the area where they had started and suddenly shouted out. "Now Wormtail, do your job." The man said harshly. Hadrian recognized the name even if he couldn't recognize the man calling it.

A smaller man came out from the sidelines and bent down towards the area that Hadrian had arrived in. He seemed to be scooping at something on the ground. 'My blood.' Hadrian realized. He had no desire for someone of such disrepute to have his blood. He tried to push back against the attacking man, having found some slight gaps within the onslaught that he had took advantage on. He switched attacking targets from his aggressor to Wormtail. The rat animagus got behind a tombstone before any of the spells could connect with the man. 'So, we are in a graveyard.' He noticed, not that the observation helped much in his current scenario. Hadrian switched his focus back to the man attacking him, though he kept his senses on Wormtail. He seemed to be running towards another small but vile presence.

Hadrian was able to exploit more and more openings until he was now on the aggressive. He now got a better chance to look at the face of the man and didn't know who he was. The only thing he could recognize on the face were the eyes. The eyes that desired pain, that reveled in the fight. One's that held desire to for unending agony to befall who he was facing. The face was now set in a snarl as he no longer had control of the fight. There were some crucios that were thrown into the mix that caused Hadrian to have to summon bits of rock around himself. Hadrian found himself having to dodge and block less and less as the variety and multitude of attacks he sent were keeping the other man busy. Piercing curses followed by earth chains that got trailed by transfigured birds that dove towards the man were close to overwhelming him.

Barty Crouch Jr. was having such a hard time keeping up with the duel. It had started out fine with how it usually went against his opponents. His attacks were keeping the boy on the defensive but the tables had quickly turned he had to block and send out spells to destroy transfigurations sent at him. He threw another exploding curse at the earthen chains and felt pain rip through his wand arm elbow. He looked towards it and only saw a bloody stump where his forearm used to be. A scream ripped through his mouth as his remaining hand went to the stump to fruitlessly try and stop the bleeding. His screaming was soon stopped as his body was hit with the concussive force of an exploding curse that caught him in the chest and created a huge hole.

Hadrian watched with grim satisfaction as his overpowered piercer took off his opponent's arm and looked at the man before putting him out of the misery. The connection of the spell with the man left no doubt that the man was taking an eternal rest. He felt around for Wormtail and felt that the smaller presence with Wormtail was now smothered in another magic. Hadrian also felt the anti-apparition and anti-portkey wards that surrounded the cemetery. If he could just get a small amount of time to focus his energy he could punch through the wards that surrounded him.

That time was not given to him as he felt a huge explosion of magic in the place where Wormtail had been. Hadrian could feel the other presence but instead of being small, this presence now dwarfed Wormtail and was about 3/5 of Hadrian's own and growing bit by bit. The presence was also vile, twisted, and all encompassing. He could feel the wards strengthen tenfold as they latched onto the presence that filled Hadrian's senses. Hadrian was on guard as the presence made its way towards him. Hadrian could see glimpses of a black cloak swishing back and forth between the tombstones. Hadrian transfigured two of the tombstones that surrounded him into jaguars that were prepared to jump upon the person coming.

The person came around the row of tombstones and was followed by a whimpering Wormtail who was missing a hand. Hadrian was now able to get a good look at the person's face. Pale as chalk with slits for nostrils and glowing red eyes that simmered with anger. There was no doubt who this was.

Voldemort was looking at the dead body of one of his most devoted followers with anger. That the boy had killed Crouch this quickly spoke of either the boy's skill or Barty's arrogance. He looked back towards the Potter child. "You killed my servant, boy." Voldemort said in a low hiss-like tone. "You shall pay for that." Voldemort threatened.

Hadrian gave a shrug, though he wasn't sure if the man could see him or not. "He attacked me. It was his own fault." Hadrian stated calmly. His mind was still working on ways that he would be able to punch out of these wards or find a way to make it to the edge of them without having to turn his back on the Dark Lord to make a run for them. He could feel a leyline, though it was too far away to use fully and would take too much time to siphon enough power from for a continuous fight. He tried to keep Voldemort talking. "So, where are we? What place is so revered that it was the rebirth place of Voldemort?" Hadrian asked.

Voldemort took a couple more paces towards Hadrian before stopping. He was now within distance to see the clear distinctions in his face. "This is the graveyard of the town where my father was buried, but it has no more importance than that." He stated. he turned towards the sniveling man beside him. "Wormtail, you arm." He commanded the man.

"Oh, thank you master, thank you." Wormtail groveled as he extended his stump.

Voldemort looked down at the man with annoyance in his eyes. "Your other arm." He told him.

Wormtail was trembling as he extended his still functioning arm towards his master. Voldemort pulled out his wand and put it to the dark mark upon Wormtail's arm. The man now seemed to writhe with agony and Hadrian was getting a bad feeling about this now. It took a minute before Hadrian started to hear the distinct pops of apparition filling the graveyard. He heard two pops behind him and decided to at least keep his back clear. He sent two cutting curses at the presences' locations and felt one shield and one move off to the side and met up with one of his other fellows. The other presence required more spells before he was forced to veer off to the other side. Hadrian was now ridiculously outnumbered, but at least he wasn't completely surrounded.

The men in cloaks and silver masks now came through the gaps in the tombstones to form a circle with an open end where Hadrian was. They seemed to all be looking at Voldemort now and Hadrian figured he could take out a couple before they looked at him but the retaliatory response would most likely be too much, especially with a dark lord leading the charge.

Voldemort looked upon the boy. "Hadrian Potter." He said in his hissing way. "Not the Potter I was expecting, but a welcome change." He stated. He looked into Hadrian's own eyes. "I remember coming that night and looking down upon the two of you in your cribs, guarded by your grandmother. Fierce in magical ability and pure in blood. It was a shame that she had to go and marry a blood-traitor." Here, there were a few insults muttered by people who were standing in the circle. "I should have known she would set something up, she was a Black after all. Cunning till the end with centuries of magical knowledge stored for their family." He said with a little bit of hunger. "She gave her life and soul to protect the two of you, which made it so that I could not harm you. When I tried to kill you, the spell turned upon me and destroyed my body. But that doesn't matter now. I have dived into the secrets of immortality and, as you can see, my body has returned." He stated.

Hadrian's thought was that Voldemort liked to hear himself talk, as well as give his followers a reason as to why he was defeated. He figured the explanation did make sense, he doubted that either he or his brother was able to actually do anything versus a dark lord. The dark lord seemed to turn on his own men, reprimanding them about how they left him to fend for himself and leaving back to their cushy lifestyles. He named many people that had been tried and cleared from the last time Voldemort had terrorized the country. He praised the ones that had searched and that would apparently take up the gap of the circle that Hadrian was standing in. Hadrian tried to take some steps back and heard Voldemort react.

"Tsk tsk. Don't you know it is quite rude to leave a party early when you are the guest of honor?" the dark lord asked mockingly.

Hadrian was still trying to stay calm as his jaguars stayed at his side. "This wasn't my type of party, so I was thinking of going home." Hadrian stated airily, as if they really were at a party.

"I'm afraid I can't let you go. I have plans that require secrecy and I can't have you talking about me just yet." The dark lord passively threatened.

Hadrian grimaced. They were getting to that part of the night. "Then I guess you would like to step onto the dance floor and tango?" he questioned towards Voldemort.

The dark lord gave a high-pitched laugh that was cold and derogatory. "What do you think you, a child of fourteen, could do to me? You have no family for protection now." Voldemort stated arrogantly. "You were taught how to duel, yes?" Voldemort asked. "First we bow." He stated. He then gave a small bow and Hadrian returned it with a slight nod of his head. "No, no, no. That is not how you bow." He sent a spell to try and force Hadrian's back to curve down.

Hadrian slapped the spell aside and Voldemort's eyes narrowed at the action. "I don't bow to anyone, most especially mass murderers." Hadrian stated. A few of the members in the circle seemed to get twitchy at the insult but Voldemort waved them off. Hadrian had spent much of the time talking trying to milk as much of the leyline's magic that he could get before the fight and felt like the amount of power that he had accumulated was enough to serve his purpose for an initial shock and awe. "Perhaps some of your followers need to cool their heads." Hadrian stated as he let loose a torrent of freezing air.

Voldemort felt the magic growing around them, though he couldn't tell for what purpose. He then felt the boy channel it and he cast a shield right as the spell was fired. He was able to cover himself and two of his death eaters on either side. He saw that some of his men were able to put up shields but the three closest to the boy as well as two more deeper into the circle were hit by it.

Hadrian wasn't idle after he sent out the spell. He dashed for the tombstones where he activated his cloak. He then sent his jaguars into the darkness. Once the spell's effects stopped the remaining people dropped their shields and the closest two were beset by the large cats. One death eater was able to send a ribbon cutting curse to slice one of the cats in half. Another wasn't so lucky as he got his throat mauled before his friends could take it out. Hadrian was now facing ten remaining death eaters plus Voldemort himself. He had the element of surprise on his side and he planned to use it.

"Well done Potter, well done." The dark lord's voice echoed in the graveyard. "For all that strength you now hide. Why not come face me like a true man?" Voldemort taunted. Hadrian wasn't going to fall for that. He had no intention of going out into the open while being outnumbered. He sent small earthen chains with spikes to wrap around the legs of the other men.

Voldemort couldn't actually sense the boy, but he could sense the source of the magic that was coming at him and his followers. He sent a cruciatus curse towards the source and felt the magic feeding into the spell leave as the spell was travelling before it slammed into a tombstone, exploding it. The dark lord heard shouts from another two of his followers that had gotten their legs wrapped in the spikes. He looked around angrily, trying to find the boy. "Spread out. Find him." he told his followers. The death eaters spread out and Hadrian was thinking about trying to sneak out before thinking about the necessary proof if he wanted to show the world that the dark lord had returned. He felt around for the death eaters and felt a small magical transportation device sitting on the ground.

'The cup.' Hadrian thought. It was keyed into the wards and was able to let him leave to where it was originally supposed to take him. He crept around towards the area that the cup was in. He waited for the next death eater to get close before he sent a cutting curse at the man's knee. Everything below his left knee was cut off as the man yelled in agony. Hadrian dove to grab the man's arm and had his other hand stretch for the portkey. He was able to see Voldemort's livid face right before he disappeared from the graveyard.


	23. Political Maneuvering

**Disclaimer: obviously I only own the idea of my story and not that of the original author of this series.**

' _French thoughts'_

" _French speech"_

'English thoughts'

"English speech"

This method is reversed in flashbacks

Not even gonna try putting french accents into the english portions

Not dead, just had a lot of things pile up and didn't feel like writing. Happy New Year to all.

Chapter 23: Political Maneuvering

The swirling feeling went away and was quickly replaced with the feeling of slamming into hard, solid ground. Hadrian's knees buckled, though he kept his footing. He had landed in the center of the stands viewing area. His quick glance around was enough for him to see the faces of the attending students and spectators looking at the mutilated and moaning caped man that had arrived with him. The man's mask had come off at some point in the battle and his long blonde hair flowed out form under his hood. For the moment, no one was moving save for Dumbledore, who was creeping closer. The general silence was broken by the babbling of the minister.

"Wh-What is going on here?" he stuttered out as he moved forward with his contingent of aurors. Dumbledore was creeping forward to make sure he could get into the middle of any confrontation that might occur. The minister got close enough to make out the face of the man who was moaning on the ground.

"Lucius?" he breathed. His eyes swept over the body of his most generous financial backer and went down to the man's missing leg. "Madame Pomfrey." He called out. The elderly matron came over. "Please see to this man's injuries." He told the woman. She gave a shaky nod and levitated the man as she took him towards the hospital wing. As she walked past Dumbledore, Hadrian saw the headmaster whisper into the matron's ear and hit the Malfoy head with a spell.

The minister's gaze transferred over to Hadrian. "What is the meaning of this, young man?" he demanded of Hadrian with more confidence in his voice.

Hadrian looked at the minister who he had absolutely no respect for, but answered as he wasn't in much of a place to argue without getting into a duel on multiple fronts. "Could you not see what happened up on the mirrors?" Hadrian asked the man as if he was a child.

Dumbledore took the moment to step in to try and keep the moment in a calmer mood, as he could see the tension being set within Hadrian. "The mirror went blank shortly into your portkey trip. We assume that the distance was too great for the items to connect." He explained to Hadrian. He then turned to look at his country's leader. "Perhaps we could take this into my office, Cornelius." Dumbledore proposed to the minister.

Cornelius shook his head with an unusual resolve taking over him. "No. We will be staying here to get the facts. This boy has brought back the head of a noble house who is now missing a limb and I very much intend to know why."

Dumbledore sighed, knowing he wasn't going to be able to persuade the minister on this issue. "All right, then give me a moment." He turned towards the students in the stands and put his wand to his throat. "All students, please return to your own school's place of residence. The celebration for the end of the tournament will need to be held at another time. Teachers, if you would please help all students get moving." He told the crowd.

There were some groans, but also a decent amount of people who didn't want to be anywhere near a potential conflict. Overall, it took a little under ten minutes to have the stands cleared and to have the minister, his four bodyguards, Dumbledore, and Hadrian alone in the middle of the clearing.

Fudge turned towards Dumbledore. "Let's get this going Albus, we don't need to be here all night." He said. Fudge turned to the aurors. "Any of you have a witness paper?" he asked. One of them nodded and pulled out a notepad along with an official looking feather.

Dumbledore seemed to steel himself against any rebuke that he would normally give the minister and looked at Hadrian. "What can you tell us about what happened after you grabbed the cup, and how that came to the ending of Mr. Malfoy missing a leg?" he asked of the young man.

Hadrian got to his feet slowly, and could see that two of the four aurors were a bit on edge. His mind was racing to give a true story without giving anything about himself away. He then went into his story. "The cup was a portkey, which I assumed was the original intention of the thing. However, someone managed to add a destination to the chain of stops and it took me to a graveyard. Whoever did it was one of the tournament helpers or was posing as one. It took me to a graveyard, I don't know so don't ask me." He stated as he saw the question in Dumbledore's eyes. He could also see the quill that the auror had was writing down whatever he said. He then continued his story. "As soon as I arrived, a cutting curse was shot at me. I was able to mostly dodge it, though it did graze me." He stated, pointing to the cut he had on his left thigh. "Whoever sent that curse my way then started to duel with me." Hadrian said, not saying any of the specifics of how the fight was happening. "He then called out for a man called Wormtail, who I am assuming is the same man who betrayed my family years ago, to do his job. I am not sure of the specifics. All I know is that it used my blood. Whatever he did strengthened something or somebody that was with him." he told them.

Hadrian was interrupted by the arrival of an elderly lady with auburn hair and a monocle who was striding to the group with purpose. The aurors standing around parted to make room for her. "Amelia." Cornelius ground out the greeting. "What are you doing here?" he asked her.

"Cornelius." She returned with the same distaste. She looked at Dumbledore. "Your deputy was kind enough to contact me with the message that something was going on here. It was a good excuse to get out of the office." She ended. She then turned towards one of the aurors in the group. "Status report." She told the man.

He gave a small salute as he gave her a rundown. "Ma'am, we were guarding the minister when Mr. Potter's viewing device went blank for almost 20 minutes before the he reappeared where the cup was supposed to bring the winner. The anomaly was that he had one Lucius Malfoy with him. Mr. Malfoy was also missing everything below a knee on one leg. The students were cleared form the field and we were debriefing Mr. Potter now." The auror reported to his superior. He then gave her the notepad so that she could catch up on the debriefing.

Amelia took in the information as her gaze switched from the parchment to down at the youngest Potter. He didn't seem to be too uncomfortable with his situation, which meant one of three things. One, that he was in shock, though he didn't seem to have any of the tells that spoke to having shock. Two, that whatever had happened where the cup took him wasn't that bad, also unlikely seeing as he had brought back a man who was now missing a limb. Lastly, that he had been in a similar situation before. This seemed to be the most likely scenario, although that just put her more on edge. She spoke to the boy who had her interest. "Please, continue with your story." She told Hadrian.

Hadrian gave her a nod to show her agreement, then continued his story. "After whatever he did to strengthen the person he had with him, a man walked through the tombstones towards me. His skin was pale, with red eyes and a slit nose. He claimed to be Voldemort." Hadrian said. He had no doubt that the thing that he fought was Voldemort, or at least one of the horcruxes put into a body.

When he said Voldemort, the two aurors who were more on edge flinched and the minister's face started to turn red. He couldn't seem to keep quiet. "You expect us to believe that You-Know-Who is back." He said angrily. "The man is gone, your brother vanquished him 13 years ago." The man spat out.

Hadrian just looked at the man with minor contempt and gave a shrug of his shoulders. "I don't claim to know what you would deem to be believable. And all I said was that the man claimed that he was Voldemort." He said as the three men flinched again at the name.

Amelia was putting all of her attention into the story at this time. The options were that Hadrian was bullshitting them, the man wasn't who he claimed to be, Hadrian was extremely lucky, or Hadrian was skilled way beyond his years. As much as she didn't want to believe it, it was starting to seem like the last one if it was true.

Dumbledore stepped in before the minister could retort. "Perhaps we should let Mr. Potter get through his story without interruptions, else this might take longer." Dumbledore said, though it was mostly aimed at the minister. Fudge seemed to back down, though he didn't look like he was happy with it. Dumbledore turned to Hadrian. "If you would, please."

Hadrian picked up from where he left off. "This man then used the dark mark upon Wormtail's arm to call men who were dressed dark clothes and masks. They made a circle with the man claiming to be Voldemort at one end and myself at the other. Voldemort then went around berating the various people, saying how they hadn't been loyal. He then focused upon me and started to taunt me. I used family magic to cast an area of effect freezing spell and headed into the tombstones." It technically wasn't a lie. Since he had created that specific 'spell', it could be claimed under family magic. It would also be hard to know whether it was in the Potter library or not as they would need to either have James or Lily scour the library looking for the spell, which would take time. Or they would have to give permission to authorities to go through the library, which was an impossibility. No house was going to open up their books that had family magic to the ministry.

"I then headed to the cup and another man came out from behind one of the tombstones and I hit him with a cutting curse before grabbing him and then the cup. That is when I arrived here." He finished his story. It left out many specifics about what happened in the graveyard that Hadrian knew weren't going to get filled in for the aurors.

Amelia looked down at the boy. The story was definitely incomplete, though whether from lies or omissions she was unsure. She then looked at the minister looking like he was barely holding back and decided to defuse the situation. "I will be taking over this questioning as the head of the DMLE." She said as she flexed her authority. She couldn't say she didn't take pleasure in the way it irritated the minister. Cornelius stalked off to the edge of the field and his aurors turned to follow. Amelia grabbed one of the two who wasn't looking jumpy during the questioning by the arm and kept him there. She looked at Dumbledore. "Where is Mr. Malfoy currently?" she asked.

"In the infirmary, being looked after by our matron. He has been stunned, paralyzed and numbed so that she would be able to work on him without interruptions." He told the woman.

She nodded and turned to her subordinate. "Go and watch over Mr. Malfoy." He will be brought into questioning once his treatment has been completed." She ordered him. She got a "Yes Ma'am" before he left to go do his assigned task. She then turned back towards Hadrian and flipped through the notepad. "I'm going to be asking you some questions. Will you be willing to answer them?" she asked.

Hadrian shook his head. "No. You have my statement. Anything else will need to be done by the Wizengamot." He told her.

She looked at him shrewdly. It seemed that he had some handle upon the laws in Britain. "Are you sure? It might make things easier down the road." She told him, trying to bait him to give her some information.

"No." he said, more forcefully this time.

Amelia sighed. It seemed like she would have to go through all of the proper channels if she wanted any answers. "Then I bid you a good night Mr. Potter. Do not leave the premises of the school as you are a suspect within this case. Any attempt to leave will result in an issuing of a warrant for your person. Do you understand?" she asked of him.

"Yes, I understand." He responded.

She gave a return nod and then sent off a patronus in the direction of the school before walking away. This left just Dumbledore and Hadrian standing in the middle of what should be the quidditch pitch. Dumbledore put his hand on Hadrian's shoulder. "It seems to be getting a bit chilly out here. We should be getting inside now, don't you think?" he jested towards Hadrian.

Hadrian gave a grunt and headed towards the school and eventually his room. He debated whether to make his way from the school before deciding against it. He had the legality on his side, even if he was going to have to give up some of his secrets. He would rather not have his actual identity have a fugitive status attached to it. He then prepped himself for what he knew would be coming the next day before plopping down on his bed. He felt the crash from the adrenaline finally leaving his system and was extremely tired.

He was woken abruptly by a sharp rapping on his door. He checked the time and saw that the time was barely past seven in the morning. He dredged himself out of bed to go answer the door and was met with the face of the woman who he had talked to the previous night, along with two more aurors behind her, followed by the headmaster.

Amelia gave a slight clear of her throat. "Mr. Potter you are hereby wanted for questioning in the attack upon a lord of the Wizengamot. Any attempt to resist will result in your arrest. Please surrender your wand now to keep this an easy-going affair." Amelia told him. While she didn't revel in the act of arresting the kid, she was by the book and was extremely interested in getting answers about what happened in this whole fiasco. She was going to use all the authority she had to put the Malfoy head through the ringer, but that meant that the kid had to be brought in as well. That didn't mean she was going to be as harsh as she usually was when trying to bring in suspects.

Hadrian nodded and flicked his wand out of his holster and turned the end towards the woman. One of the aurors on the side tried to reach out for it and Hadrian pulled it back out of the man's reach. "I give this to you on the condition that it stays within your care madame. Not the DMLE general locker and not by some other office. Should anything happen to it, I shall know exactly whose fault it is." He told her. He knew the woman from reputation only and her reputation was one of a stern but fair and by the book person.

She nodded and took the wand from his hands. She stowed it somewhere in her robes. "Your parents shall be notified of your holding upon your arrival at the ministry." She told him. He nodded and she then moved out of the way for Hadrian to step in front of herself and the other aurors. Hadrian took the strides to pass them as they fell in line behind him, their hands resting gently upon their wands. They walked down the stairs and out of the Entrance Hall and into the cool summer morning. It was so early in the morning that there were barely any students eating breakfast and they were able to make their way out unimpeded. They walked down the path towards Hogsmeade, but Hadrian stopped just before they would cross the ward lines as he felt a soft breeze of wind give him a gently caress across his face as though a parent was saying goodbye. He took a deep breath to soak in the feeling, while the others just thought he was taking his last breath of fresh air for a while. He stepped across the ward line and was offered an arm by Amelia. He grabbed it before having the feeling of the world compressing all around him.

They landed in a small grey room and he was quickly ushered out of the apparition point by his escorts. They moved along until they started going through desks, only which a couple of were being used, and took a turn down a hallway. He was brought to a door which was opened for him before being led into it. The room consisted of a table and three chairs, with dull grey walls on every side.

"Sit, Mr. Potter." She told him and he did so. "We will be back in a few minutes to start out questioning." She told the young man before leaving the room. When the door closed, it disappeared and melded into the wall so that there was no sign a door was even made into the wall. Hadrian tried to get as comfortable as he could on the purposefully uncomfortable chair.

The few minutes turned into over a half an hour before the door reappeared on the side of the room. In walked Amelia and one of the aurors that had been guarding Fudge the previous night. They took the two seats opposite him and put the file they had onto the table. Amelia decided to kick off the questioning. "Mr. Potter, are you able to recall your testimony from last night?" she asked the kid.

"I am. I can also recall that if I asked for a lawyer, you would be forced to wait for one. It is funny how the laws don't make you tell me about that, it almost seems like they are skewed in the favor of a certain class." He said airily. Amelia made a face at that. She was annoyed at those laws. It was expected that people knew their basic rights and that gave a huge disadvantage to people who joined the wizarding world later in life.

"Do you have any intention of asking for a lawyer?" she followed up.

Hadrian shook his head. "No, there's no need." He told her.

She gave a bit of a sigh, at least that was a little less legality that she had to battle through. "You claim that you were take to a graveyard, is that correct?" she asked him.

"Yes." He said clearly.

"You also claim that you were attacked as you came out of the portkey travel, correct?"

"Yes." He again replied.

"Would you happen to know the man that attacked you?"

"No."

"What happened to the man after he attacked you?"

"Decline to comment." He stated. Amelia let out a breath. It had seemed to be going a bit too easily. It seemed that he was holding out information on purpose rather than just not remembering the minute details.

"Later in your statement, you say that you use family magic upon the people near you, could you be a little more specific on the type of magic used please." She asked him.

"I could be, though I don't have to be. Family magic is protected so that no legal authority has the right to take or make one share the secrets to the spell. How naïve do you think I am Madame?" he finished. She was staring him down, most likely to try and intimidate him. It had no effect, seeing as he had stared down many things much worse than a person sitting across a desk who had no real potential to harm him.

Amelia sighed and checked a different part of folder. "I have to be frank with you Mr. Potter. More claims have come in, saying that you attacked not one but several of high-ranking lords last night when all they were trying to do was congratulate the winner of the tournament." She said with a bit of disbelief. She then continued nonetheless. "The only way I see this deescalating is if you are entirely honest with us. The lords are pushing for a trial as soon as possible. They want to make you an example for those who try to contest their power." She told him, hoping that he would understand the severity of the situation that he was in.

The other auror in the room spoke up for the first time. "The only way to get rid of this right now is to give irrefutable evidence that they were actively trying to bring you extreme harm. We could get you out of here and back to Hogwarts before midday if you are able to supply us with the evidence." The man tried to reach out with a solution.

Hadrian smirked. "That's not the only way." Was the only answer he gave and it bewildered both of the aurors in the room with him. They both couldn't think of any scenario where being put against many of the lords of the Wizengamot was a good thing.

"Young man, I don't think you understand the gravity of this situation." She said imperatively.

Hadrian gave a small shake of his head, as if he thought they were out of their depth. "No Madame, it is you who doesn't understand this situation fully, though I don't blame you. Even so, I have no wish to bow to people who tried to see me dead and will certainly not be giving into their demands for anything. I also expect them to get the trial going by tomorrow. They want this to go as quick as possible." He told her.

Amelia let out an audible sigh. "Then, unfortunately, Mr. Potter you are under arrest for the alleged attack upon multiple lords." She said almost robotically. She didn't want to do this. While she may be able to supersede Fudge on matters of law enforcement, the Wizengamot was another matter entirely. The matter was pushed through quickly as even the neutral lords and some of the light lords didn't want to lose the protection they were given by the law.

Hadrian gave a shrug and he was then led up and out of the room. They went across the room with all of the desks, which had started to fill up, and went down another hall opposite to the one that held the questioning rooms. They led him to a room with bars on the front and opened the door for him. He stepped inside and heard the door close behind him.

"You are correct about the trial time. They are pushing to have you tried early tomorrow morning." She informed the young man. "Is there any lawyer you would like me to contact on your behalf?" she asked him.

"No, but I thank you for your adherence to common decency Madame." He replied.

She seemed to be a bit disappointed but headed off down the hallway anyway. He slowly sank onto the bed he had been given and laid down. He then sunk into his mind and started to replay the fight within his mind over and over again. He was looking for any consistencies within any of the still living attackers. He was only brought out of his ponderings by a slight rattle of his cell's bars. The artificial window his cell had no longer showed any sunlight, so he could only assume that he had been out four hours. He looked up and saw Sirius standing at the front of his cell.

"Hadrian, are you okay?" he asked the man he saw as a son.

"They just downgraded me to a two-star hotel. I think I liked the previous one better." He jested. The worried look upon Sirius' face didn't go away.

"The darker lords of the Wizengamot are trying to push for a stint in Azkaban for you should you be found guilty. I've got the best lawyer ready to be here tomorrow for you, you don't need to worry." He told Hadrian. He had only learned about Hadrian being brought in when he arrived for work and even then, he was stonewalled from going to see him until after his shift had completed.

"There's no need for that Sirius, although I appreciate the thought. I have everything under control." He told him calmly. Sirius' worries only seemed to be marginally eased by the words and the surety they were spoken in.

"Even so, it might be easier for you if you had a lawyer with you." Sirius rebutted.

Hadrian shrugged his shoulders. "If it makes you feel better to have him there, then by all means bring him. I'm just telling you right now that he won't be necessary." Hadrian told the older man.

Sirius' eyes wandered from Hadrian and slid around the accommodations that the boy was given. It seemed bleak, but not altogether uncomfortable for a single day of use. "Is there anything that I could bring to help with the boredom." He asked. Hadrian shook his head at the man. Sirius seemed to be a little disheartened at not being able to help the boy he saw as a son. Hadrian saw it and decided to ease some of the weight on the man's conscience.

"Sirius." The man looked up at him. "Thank you, for everything. For standing by me and trying to help me when no one else is, no matter what." He thanked the man and truly meant it. Sirius had stood by him through most of his childhood years and had apparently never gave up on him even after he had disappeared. Hadrian might not have been the best at articulating intricate feelings, but his gratitude of Sirius couldn't be understated.

For the first time of the night, Sirius' face eased into a warm smile. "Anytime pup." He assured Hadrian. It would take some extreme circumstances for Sirius to abandon the boy before him. "If I can't get you anything to make your stay here easier?" he fished again and received another shake of the head from Hadrian. "Then I will see you tomorrow morning. There's almost nothing that will keep me from being from your side tomorrow. I'll see you then." Sirius said.

"I'll see you later, Sirius." He replied and then the older man headed down the hallway and quickly fell out of sight.

Time crawled on as Hadrian lay there waiting for what he knew was coming when he received a visitor he had not expected to see. The headmaster of Hogwarts stood on the opposite sides of the bars. He was looking down at Hadrian as Hadrian peered back through the darkness into the eyes which held a twinkle.

"Have you come to gloat?" he asked the headmaster with a slight sneer in his voice.

"On the contrary, Hadrian. I merely came to see a boy that I failed to find and keep with his family. This failure led to someone who finds it easy to kill and more than likely thinks that it is the best route to go down." Dumbledore gave a slight confession.

Hadrian scoffed at the naivety in that statement. Even after living for more than a century, the man lived how he wanted the world to be rather than how it was. How many families had been torn apart due to the fact that they wouldn't permanently stop the Death Eaters from terrorizing the country? "How does one who led the fight in two different wars become the way you have. You see the depravity of the acts from some people and yet you think that every person deserves to be redeemed. You risk the wellbeing of many just so that a few who have a very small chance of being rehabilitated will actually see the 'right path'. Its illogical and creates more harm than good. But I don't need you here to argue over philosophy. If you have nothing else to add, I'll have to ask that you leave." He told the old man.

"If we don't give people a second chance, how are people supposed to change from the path that they are on." He told Hadrian. "But that's not the real reason I came here. I just came here to tell you that if you have any goodbyes for friends or family now is the time. A contingent from the ICW will be coming tomorrow. They plan on trying you for multiple murders across Europe, mostly centered in France. They are connecting you to a man known as Triton." That got Hadrian to sit up and narrow his eyes at the old man.

"So, you are essentially here to tell me that I'll be in Azkaban or another country's equivalent. That's very counterintuitive to your whole spiel about second chances." Hadrian countered, trying to formulate a different plan for the next day. He knew that even if he could get past the British part of the trial, the ICW was a whole different issue.

"It might seem that way, but I know of the untold amount of destruction an elemental is able to do. I am not going to put the world at risk from a person who controls that much power and already has an indifference to killing people." Dumbledore said sadly, as if this issue was truly causing a war within himself. "There are a few aurors left in the department currently. If you would like to get a message out to anyone, now would be a good time. They should be leaving within the next hour or so." He told the young man. "I am truly sorry that it has to come to this. I had hoped that you would be able to see the world for what it could be. I'm guessing this will be our last talk. Goodbye, Hadrian." He said before leaving.

Hadrian laid back on his bed, his mind working overtime. If the ICW was coming and the aurors hadn't informed him, then it was most likely that the British wouldn't know until the proceedings were about to start. He also thought about the kinds of cases they would come at him with from the ICW. The murders he had committed across the other countries in Europe were generally impossible to actually tie to him by themselves. They would need to use the ones from early on in his career that happened in France. The only thing that could tie him to that would be his magical signature. A smile grew on his face. 'Thank you, Dumbledore, for giving me the warning' he thought with a small degree of pleasure. Now it all hinged on one man's want to keep his family out of harm's way.

He checked the room quickly for any magic monitoring runes and found none. The aurors assuming that he couldn't cast wandless magic. He quickly cast a patronus and gave it the message 'I'm calling the favor in that you owe me. Any evidence of my activities needs to be destroyed or else you go down along with me.' He then sent it off and waited to see if his gamble would work.


	24. The Trial

**Disclaimer: obviously I only own the idea of my story and not that of the original author of this series.**

' _French thoughts'_

" _French speech"_

'English thoughts'

"English speech"

This method is reversed in flashbacks

Not even gonna try putting french accents into the english portions

Chapter 24: The trial

The next morning came quickly for Hadrian. The guards were at his door at 6 A.M. rousing him from his light sleep. "Get up Potter, you need to get ready for your court appearance." One of the aurors said brusquely. It seemed as if he had some grudge to hold against Hadrian, though Hadrian cared naught for it. As long as the man didn't harass him as he was getting up, he couldn't care less the tone he was talked to by the aurors.

Hadrian got up out of the bed he had been provided and made his way over to the cell. It was opened and he was led in front of the aurors into a room with three people sitting in it. He walked in and the door was closed behind him. Hadrian faced the two people sitting at the table, not even bothering to acknowledge the person standing in the corner of the room. Sirius got up and came over to him. "Are you ready for this trial?" Sirius put his hands on Hadrian's shoulders as he looked the boy up and down.

Hadrian appreciated the sentiment he was being given. "I'm assuming that that is the lawyer you hired." Hadrian stated, nodding his head over at the unknown man sitting at the table.

"Yes." The man replied. "Brock Abbot." The man said, reaching his hand out. Hadrian shook the man's offered hand shortly and then let it drop. "I am here to help you through this trial for any parts that you require. We should get our information sorted out quickly so that we don't miss any tactics that could be used over the course of the trial." The man told him.

Hadrian gave the man a small smile. "I don't know if Sirius told you, but I don't need any representation for the majority of the trial. The only thing I might need you for is if I need to know any small nuances that might come to my attention within the time of the trial and any objectionable action the prosecuting side might do. Other than that, my needs for you are none." He told the man. He didn't need someone trying to dictate his defense when he didn't know key information that was going to be used in the defense.

The man seemed to want to object, but Hadrian shut him down before he could even start. "I don't need someone for this defense because I have this figured out. I certainly don't need someone else in control of my fate. You are hired to assist, so assist me. But remember, I am the one calling the shots." He told the man firmly.

"I don't think you understand the severity of the penalties should these charges be brought against you. They will lock you in Azkaban at minimum." He tried to argue against Hadrian.

Hadrian shook his head. "I don't need this useless arguing before the trial. You can help me in the way that I ask or you can see yourself out the door. I'm sure I can figure this out on my own." He gave the man an ultimatum.

Brock seemed to deflate at this and voiced no more complaints at what he thought was a very stupid endeavor. He sank back into his seat and was going over the statements and accusations one last time before they entered the courtroom. Hadrian grabbed one of the loose pieces of paper and a quill and quickly wrote down some questions. He handed it over to Brock. "When I go p to take the stand, I want you to ask those questions only." He told the lawyer. The man grabbed the paper to look over the questions and Hadrian got up from the table.

"I'm going to go take a shower." He told the men. He made his way to the connected room before he was stopped by a timid "Hadrian" thrown out at him. He turned to face the woman who had been standing in the corner of the room quietly.

"Lily." He greeted her neutrally. "As you can see, I have this whole trial easily handled. There is no need for you to be here any longer." He told the woman. That seemed to break Lily out of her quiet stupor.

"What are you talking about? I came here to make sure you were okay. You are on trial for multiple murders and the trial is being pushed by multiple lords within the Wizengamot. This will probably be one of the most pushed for punishments in recent history. Why can't you see that I'm here to try and help." Lily worried out loud.

"Help, that's rich. You certainly didn't give me much when I was younger and now I neither care nor want it. And I will handle the problems given to me as the trial goes along. If you have nothing else to add, that's the door. I'm going to go take a shower now." He said as he walked into the bathroom. There was a nice set of robes hung up next to the shower. He turned the water on and then stripped before stepping under the hot water. He took deep breaths as he prepared himself to deal with the idiocy that was the British legal system. He finished his shower and threw on the robes before stepping back out into the previous room.

Lily had left the room by the time he stepped back out and the two men were looking at him. One with a look of trepidation and the other with a look of annoyance and resignation. "Are you ready pup?" Sirius asked while smoothing some imaginary wrinkles out of Hadrian's robes. Hadrian gave a small smile at the gesture.

"I'm fine Sirius. Shall we head into the courtroom?" he asked both men. The lawyer of the group nodded and went over to the door before knocking on it.

The door was opened and Hadrian could see the two men who had escorted him from his holding cell standing guard. They then were led down the hall and into a large octagonal shaped room with an extremely high ceiling. Stadium style benches were raised until thirteen levels. The seats that housed the Lords of the Wizengamot were mostly filled, with the last few Lords trickling into their seats. Sirius gave him one last check before hugging him and heading up to where his seat was. Hadrian was led to a rather uncomfortable looking seat in the middle of the room before being told to sit in it. The moment he did, chains appeared and wrapped around his arms. He looked at the enchantments on the chair and deduced that he could break them rather easily. He supposed it was more for physical detainment because even if you could get out, you would be looking at the wands of many aurors and Lords and Ladies of houses.

Mr. Abbot was sitting at a desk set right next to the chair, having seemingly got over his annoyance from before and was looking all business at present. He turned his head some and could see the viewing stands that Sirius had gone to. They were relatively full, as apparently a school aged boy killing multiple lords was something that would draw peoples' interest. Hadrian turned his head back and waited for the trial to get underway. It took a few more minutes for the courtroom to settle down as the Lady heading the trial took her place.

She banged the gavel on her desk and the room quickly fell to a hush. "I call this trial to order. I, Amelia Bones, Head of the DMLE, presides over the trial of Lords vs Hadrian Potter with the accused having six accounts of murder and one account of disfigurement against Lords of this Chamber levelled against him. How does the accused plead?" she asked Hadrian.

"Not guilty." Hadrian replied. It seemed that is how all of the factions expected it to be answered as none of them were muttering to each other.

Lady Bones nodded her head and looked down at the sheet in front of her. "The accused has been charged with the murders of Lord Crabb, Goyle, Nott, Yaxley, Flint, and Carrow. The charge of disfigurement and attempted murder is upon Lord Malfoy, who will be leading the prosecution of the accused." Amelia rattled off. "We will now hear the opening statement from Lord Malfoy." She said as the man limped forward on the cane he now had a use for. The place where his leg had been was now occupied by a prosthetic, open for the world to see.

Lord Malfoy finally made it towards the middle of the floor. He had taken a little longer because he wanted to exaggerate the limp for the other lords. He stood as tall and proud as he was able, even though he was now missing half of one of his legs. "My Lords and Ladies of the Wizengamot, today we are here to talk about a grievous crime that has been committed against some of my brethren as well as yours, myself included." He opened in his oily voice. His charisma hadn't seemed to have taken a hit like his body had.

"My friends and I had someone to alter the portkey so that if one of the boys from Hogwarts won, they would come to us so that we could give them a proper celebration by some of Britain's most upstanding citizens before sending them on their way back. We know this was against policy but we wanted them to know that not only did their friends notice their victory, but so did the old families. Instead of being able to congratulate the boy, he freaked out at not going back to the start of the maze and started immediately firing spells upon us. We tried to calm him down but he just kept on firing spells at all of us. He eventually used some unknown spell to freeze six of our fellow lords. If we had tipped them over, they would have literally shattered!" he emphasized to the court.

"I tried stepping forward and made the mistake of trying to reason with the boy. He took off my leg" here he showcased his missing limb "and grabbed myself and the portkey." Lucius looked at Hadrian and pointed at him for extra emphasis. "This maniac attacked many noble and upstanding Lords of this chamber. He should not be allowed to walk free after the damage he has wrought upon the families of the dead. If this child, one who is not of our standing should be able to attack and kill multiple Lords without a dementor's kiss being used, it would embolden others to do the same." Lucius ended his passionate opening with that statement and looked up at his fellow Lords.

Hadrian also looked up at the Lords. He could see that many of the darker families were sending angry looks at him, but mainly focused on the calculating looks of the Lord's whose families were neutral. They would hold the true sway in this trial.

Lucius retook his seat as Amelia transferred the floor over to Hadrian. "And now we will hear from the defense." She told the room. Mr. Abbott looked like he was restraining himself from taking the floor in defense of his charge.

Hadrian gave a slight jingle of the chains that held down his arms. "Lady Bones, it would be very helpful for my statement if I could be released from these chains for the duration of my defense, as I will be the driving force of it." he told her. He got a dubious look form her in return. "If you think I am going to try to escape, please note that I am surrounded by more than 100 Lords of families as well as multiple aurors. Any type of attempt by myself would be met with overwhelming force." He stated logically.

Amelia gave in to his point and pointed her wand at the chair. The chains fell away from his arms and he gave a slight rub of his wrists for show. He stood up and gave a small bow towards the Lords and Ladies in the chamber. "My Lords and Ladies," he opened towards his jurors "These men set up an illegal" here he heavily stressed the word "portkey that only works for two people. It seems suspicious that the portkey would only take us to their location if it was myself, my brother, or Mr. Diggory. "These are men who were all accused of being in league with the Dark Lord in his past reign of terror. Now it seems that they have two out of three odds that someone taken to them would be of the Potter family. Also, as I had the earliest start into the maze, I was the most likely to reach the cup first. I wonder why men of questionable reputation would want to pull either an heir of a family or myself out of a competition just to congratulate them. It seems to be a flimsy cover story that they threw together with the hopes of their Lord statuses being enough to drive the nail into the coffin of this trial." Hadrian finished his opening. He had planted the seeds of doubt within many of the minds, making them question the story the were given on multiple fronts.

Hadrian went back to the chair he had previously been sitting in, although this time the chains didn't jump to restrain his arms. Lady Bones kept the trial moving. "The prosecution can now call upon any witnesses." She told Lucius. The man gave a gracious nod of the head. One by one, the surviving attackers from the graveyard were brought up and all of them gave the same general story about the attack. Then, a student who looked familiar was brought up to the chair. "Mr. Crabbe, have you met the defendant before?" he asked of the boy.

He nodded his head "Yes, I went up to talk to him the first day he showed up at Hogwarts." He told the court.

"Can you please tell the body what happened next?" he asked of the boy.

"He told me to move and when I didn't move fast enough, he threw me across the hallway." Crabbe said in a voice the boy must have thought was slightly fearful, but just came out slightly less monotonous than his answers.

"See here, evidence that Mr. Potter has a showing of overaggressive tendencies without the circumstances calling for it. Is it really such a leap in logic that if he was panicked that he would lash out with unadulterated violence?" he asked the court. "I have no further witnesses, Lady Bones." Lucius stated before going back to his seat.

Lady Bones looked upon Hadrian and his lawyer. "Does the defense wish to cross any of the witness?" she asked of them. Hadrian stood up out of his chair and looked towards where each of the men who testified against him were sitting.

"Yes, but I only have one question for each of the people who testified against me. None of them need to take the stand. Is that alright?" he asked of the presiding judge.

She gave a small nod. "Proceed." She told him.

"Are any of you willing to swear upon your magic that everything you said up on the stand was the truth?" he asked of them.

There was some grumbling from the men, but no discernible answer was given and no move was made to make the action. Hadrian waited for twenty seconds before turning away from the group and faced Lady Bones. "No further questions your honor." He said before returning to his seat.

Lady Bones turned to look at Hadrian and his lawyer. "Does the defense have any witnesses to produce?" she asked them. "No, my Lady, but I will be taking the stand." Hadrian told her. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Lucius gain a smile upon his face. He was happy at the opportunity that he now had to question Hadrian. Hadrian walked up to the stand and sat down in the seat next to Lady Bone. He patiently waited as Lucius hobbled towards the stand. Hadrian let out the barest of smirks for the Malfoy head to see, mocking him for the injury that had put set upon the man. Hadrian could see the man's eyes harden as he made out the smirk upon Hadrian's face.

"The defense can approach and ask their questions." She directed at Mr. Abbott

Mr. Abbot made his way to where his client was. "Mr. Potter you say that it was the Tri-Wizard cup that was a portkey and did not return you immediately to the starting point of the task?" he asked Hadrian.

"That is correct." Hadrian answered his lawyer.

Mr. Abbot turned to the Lords and Ladies. "Please note that my client was taken from a competition by an illegally" here he stressed the word "made portkey that took my client to an unfamiliar and non-tournament regulated area. This is after he has been put into many dangerous situations throughout the maze." He spoke. He then turned back to Hadrian. "You say you were attacked immediately upon the end of the portkey, is that correct?"

"Yes." Hadrian replied.

"Then, right as your duel finished, you said there was an explosion of magic and a man who claimed to be He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named appeared?"

"Yes." Hadrian stuck to keeping his answers brief.

"You say he then called upon others." His lawyer stayed on a roll.

"Yes, he called for other people and close to a dozen people men started to apparate into the graveyard." He gave a bit more of a descriptive answer this time.

"What was the reason that you attacked the people who appeared?" Mr. Abbot asked. This was the question that he was uncomfortable asking. He didn't want his client to be all but admitting his fault in front of the court.

"I attacked them because they seemed to be under the command of the person claiming to be Voldemort." There were many gasps or flinches throughout the courtroom. "And he was connected to the man who had previously attacked me, which gave me the impression that these people would attack me given the chance. I decided to not give them that chance." Hadrian told to the court.

Mr. Abbot took a step back. "The defense has no further questions, your honor." Mr. Abbot said.

Lady Bones gave a nod. "Then it is the prosecution's turn to cross examine the witness. Would they like to take this opportunity?" she asked towards Lucius.

Lucius gave a curt nod. "The prosecution would like to take the chance to cross the defendant."

"Then you are now allowed to approach." She told the attorney.

Lucius made it up to the stand and began his queries. "Mr. Potter, when you arrived at the point of arrival where our group was waiting, what thought was going through your head?" the man asked.

"My original thought was 'Why did I just take such a long-distance portkey?', although I didn't have much time to continue on that line of thought." He replied to the man in a monotone.

"Come now, the area that we were set up in was no more than a couple miles outside of the school's property line. It couldn't have felt that bad." Lucius said in a condescending tone.

"If you are going to keep referencing incorrect facts when you question me, the answers which you are looking for will be impossible to answer." Hadrian snarked back at the man.

Lucius grinned at this response. "Then for the sake of efficiency, let us use the ridiculous statement that you gave to the aurors once you arrived back at the school. In this statement you say that you arrived in a graveyard. Are you able to tell us where this graveyard is?" he asked as he tried to discredit Hadrian's given statement.

"No." Hadrian brusquely answered.

"You say a man attacked you as you came out of your portkey travel. Do you know who this man was?" he asked his question.

"No." Hadrian quickly gave a repetitive answer.

"And what happened to this man?" Lucius asked of him.

"I defended myself against him and he refused to stop throwing deadly spells, I responded in kind." He confessed.

Lucius let those words sink in to all of the people listening to the testimony. "So, you admit to murdering this man?" Lucius jumped onto the opportunity.

"No." he replied again, much to Lucius' confusion. "Murdering would contain the premise of malice of forethought. I had no intention of even meeting that man before he decided to attack me. The only thing I am admitting is that someone attacked me with the intent to kill, and I responded in kind. That is not illegal." He answered and gave lawful information to the people listening.

Lucius decided to push past it. "Be that as it may, you then claim the man who betrayed your family thirteen years ago used your blood in a ritual to resurrect the Dark Lord?" he asked Hadrian, putting artificial incredulity into his tone. This comment got mocking laughs and a few mocking jeers from some of the dark and some disbelieving muttering from other members of the audience.

"It was at least someone claiming to be the Dark Lord. It might have just been some imposter who couldn't even hold a candle to the might of the Dark Lord from over a decade ago." Hadrian gave a little mockery towards Lucius. He could see the clenching of his jaw due to the close proximity they were both at.

"You then say that this man used Peter Pettigrew's arm to send out some kind of call, is that correct?" Lucius asked him.

"That is how the sequence of event's went." He gave a little bit of snark, though not enough to be too inappropriate for the setting.

"You also say that these men who arrived were then in conversation with the man claiming to be the Dark Lord."

"That is correct. The man stated many names as he berated each and every one of them for their disloyalty. That even included you name." Hadrian stated with a bit of a bait at the end.

Lucius just rolled his eyes. "Moving past your obvious attempts to rile myself up, we come to one part of both stories that seems to be in line." Hadrian gave the man a look, wondering what his analysis on the situation would bring. "It seems that in both stories, even in one that you fabricated, you attacked the group of people first with no provocation on their side and even killed multiple Lords with family magic." He finished with a more sinister smirk.

"It would seem that way." Hadrian stated calmly.

Lucius paused for the barest of moments at the uncaring tone Hadrian had used before pressing upon his advantage. "Did you know that it is also illegal to attack the Lord or Heir of a house with lethal intent if you are not of the same stature?"

This law was originally created with the intent of stopping witches and wizards of the dark ages from trying to murder off families and take their house's estate by right of conquest. However, it played out that the Lords and Heirs of houses had the possibility of attacking people with lethal force without it being able to legally returned. The law would most likely never be changed as it would have to pass through the Wizengamot, and none of the Lords or Ladies would want to weaken themselves and would want to keep every advantage they could get.

"I do know of that law. The thing I don't understand is why you are bringing up a random and irrelevant law into my questioning." Hadrian stated frigidly.

That statement did bring the Head of the Malfoy family up short. He checked that statement against his current knowledge of families and found it to not add up. "If my memory serves me correctly, you are neither the Lord nor Heir of the Potter family."

"Your knowledge about families never ceases to amaze people." Hadrian drawled out. "But I was not talking about the Potter family." The Peverell ring faded into existence upon his left hand's ring finger. "You may address me as Lord Peverell." He then looked up towards the ceiling. "Let the magics of this chamber witness and acknowledge this declaration." He declared as there was a flash of white light, showing magic's acknowledgement of the statement. Any false claims would have the light flashing red and the perpetrator knocked out.

There were various shocked gasps from some of the spectators and even some of the Lords or Ladies. However, the overwhelming look upon the faces of the Lords and Ladies was the look of someone trying to figure out where to put the new piece in the game onto the scale. Then there were the rarer ones from the Ancient Houses that realized the significance of a Peverell being in the world and actually knew the legacy upon which Hadrian stood.

"Given that you now know this information, and can check with the goblins that I was the head of the Peverell family before this whole incident happened, you seem to have no legal standing upon the base premise of lethally attacking a Lord." Hadrian told the man.

Lucius was nearly snarling in rage at that comment. His trump card had been snatched from under his very nose. "No, but there is still the fact that you attacked first." he stated to Hadrian. He turned towards Lady Bones. "No further questions, your honor." He ground out. He then hobbled over a bit out of the way and Hadrian was released from the stand. He made his way back over to his chair.

Lady Bones banged her gavel on her desk. "Does the defense have any more witnesses it wishes to call on?" she asked them.

"No, your honor." Hadrian answered.

"All right then, we will now hear closing statements. Prosecution, we will hear your statement first." she told Lucius.

Lucius made his way back into the center of the room. "My Lords and Ladies, it is easy to come to the conclusion that is right in this situation. The defendant" here he gestured at Hadrian "has been shown to have violent tendencies and has even said himself that he was the one to instigate the fight, whether you believe his ludicrous story or not. To let someone who has attacked and killed multiple Lords go free would be a serious offense to those that had been your peers for years, if not decades. This child has been missing from our society for many years and has been learning only Merlin knows what during his stay away. Within one year of his return, six Lords are dead and he shows no remorse or repentance for his actions. One such as him should not be allowed to roam free. He deserves to rot in Azkaban for the rest of his life or to receive the kiss. The decision is in your hands, My Lords and Ladies." He finished his statement. He walked over to his desk where he sat in his chair.

"We will now hear the closing argument from the defense." Lady Bones stated.

Hadrian got off of his chair and looked up at all the people who would be judging him. "This man claims that my version of events is entirely false and made up. That is possible, as is the possibility that their story is as well. The Lords who have testified against me today are known to be allied with each other and have stood upon the opposite side of a majority of the issues that have been brought up within this chamber over many years. While you will not hear me swearing on my magic that what I said was the whole and complete truth, neither will you hear _any_ of the men who testified against me. This means that you have no way to discern what parts of the stories are truth or fiction. But there is one thing you know as truth, as they prosecution and the people who testified against me have admitted to. They illegally created and applied an additional portkey stop to an item that was within an event sponsored by ministries of multiple countries. This sent me to a place that was unknown to me after I had been in a high stress environment. Let me end by posing a question. You cannot truly tell truth from lies as Lords are protected from veritaserum and none of us are willing to swear oaths upon our magic so that you are able to tell who is lying. If you were to convict me, you would be putting forward a precedent of being able to be called guilty without actually having definitive proof upon which to point to as evidence. Do you really want to put us into a point in time where Lords can be found guilty based upon speculation alone?" he finished his closing argument.

He could see that his final question weighed heavily upon many of the Lords minds. They were running through various scenarios within their heads as well as trying to tell what would happen if they put forward a precedent that made it easier for Lords to be imprisoned. He could see that many were of the decision of not putting weakening themselves for the sake of looking strong for people they didn't care about.

Lady Bones banged her gavel and made her voice echo throughout the chamber. "We will now vote upon the charges. All those who think the defendant is guilty, raise your wands." She told them. Wands came from out of sleeves and under robes to raise towards the ceiling, their tips glowing a faint red. A red glowing number 105 appeared in front of Lady Bones. "All those in favor of the defendant is not guilty, please raise your wands." More wands were raised, only this time the tips were glowing a slight green. The tallied number glowed green in front of Lady Bones.

"With the voting of 105 guilty votes, 112 not guilty votes, and 3 people abstaining, the Wizengamot finds the accused cleared of all charges. We will now need to clear the courtroom. If everyone would please leave the room in an orderly fashion. Mr. Pott-Lord Peverell, if you could please stay seated." She told him.

Hadrian remained seated as there was a general eruption of noise from people talking about the result of the trial as well as the stampeding towards the doors of the court room. Sirius was coming down from his seat to congratulate Hadrian before he was stopped by a stocky man in a robe. He was then told something that Hadrian couldn't hear and Sirius' shoulders slumped before also making his way out of the room. It took close to twenty minutes for the last vestiges of people to finally make their way out of the courtroom. Finally, the only people left within the room were Hadrian, Mr. Abbot, Lady Bones, four people dressed in fancier robes, and ten Hit-Wizards. Eight of the Hit Wizards were paired at each of the exits, wands in hand. The final two were standing nearby the four unknown people. One of the four nicer dressed stepped forward.

"Hadrian Potter, my name is Monsieur Ardoin and I will be the prosecutor for this hearing. This hearing is to determine whether the evidence held by our offices is substantial enough to take you to open court. This hearing is will be presided over by these three legal representatives, each from a country where your alleged crimes were not committed. We have Mrs. Windell from the United States, Mr. Rodriguez from Mexico, and Mr. Petrov from Russia. They must be unanimous in the decision to indict you. As the head of the DMLE of the country we are trying you in, Lady Bones is here as witness to the court proceedings. Do you understand?" the man ended his lengthy introduction. The tone he said this in was one who was hungry to get this out of the way, and that he was confident he would be getting his way. He seemed like someone who was an up and coming star attorney, and hadn't received any losses on his record yet. One of the representatives conjured a desk and then armchairs for the three of them before taking their seats.

"I understand, but also want to be sure that you use my correct name. My name is Hadrian Peverell." Hadrian told the man.

"Fine, Hadrian Peverell, you are being charged with the murder of 17 individuals over a two year period in France in connection to the criminal known under the moniker of Triton. One of the victims being a high-ranking French Ministry official. How do you plead to these charges?" the man asked.

Mr. Abbot sat and watched the proceedings, stunned at what was being levelled against my client.

"Not guilty." Hadrian told the man.

Monsieur Ardoin nodded his head as if expecting that answer. "We do things differently at ICW hearings. The use of veritaserum is allowed to be used upon people who are a credible threat to society. Their confessions under the potion, paired with evidence, bring the judges to a decision whether we are able to move this to trial in front of a jury." He told Hadrian. He then opened up the bag he was holding and pulled out a small vial of clear liquid.

"I'm going to stop you right there. You have no grounds upon which to use veritaserum on me." Hadrian told the man.

"I have every right. Your status as a Lord within the British Isles hold no sway over the ICW's rules." The man told him smugly.

Hadrian pulled out some knowledge that he had gotten from reading one of the journals of his ancestors. "No, you don't. when the ICW was founded in the 1500's, Britain would only agree to join if the families that were signing were never able to be forced into having to share any secrets with the ICW in any capacity. This is why the use of my correct name was important. The Peverells were one of the families in Britain that made it so that Britain joined the ICW. Therefore, you have no legal grounds to use any magic or potion that would cause me to give over any secrets to you." Hadrian stated in a cold voice.

The prosecutor did a small pause and looked towards the three magicals that were sitting at the desk. The Russian gave a nod to show that Hadrian was speaking the truth. "Many of the old families from the initial countries put in those clauses. Since the magic of this chamber recognized him as part of that family, we must accept that he has those rights should he know about them." the man said in a heavy Russian accent.

This seemed to tick the prosecutor off before he quickly recovered. "Regardless, we shouldn't need any of those things to prove this beyond a doubt." He told the panel. He then spent the next 45 minutes linking together all of the murders by style, methods, and the small insignia that Hadrian had taken to leaving at the scenes of his later murders. All in all, it wasn't hard to put them all together.

"While this is all well and good." Mr. Abbot spoke up for the first time since the man had started showing evidence. "I fail to see how this is being linked to my client in any way, shape, or form." He told the prosecutor.

"It should be easy." The man replied. "The reason for linking these past murders was because the earlier murders had magical residue left at the scene that we were able to store and keep." He said as he reached into his bag and pulled out another vial filled with a swirling mass of color as well as a small bag. Ardoin then pulled out two gloves which he then put on and opened the small bag. He pulled out a small rock that was covered with runes. He held it out to Hadrian. "Hold this for a moment please, Mr. Peverell." He said with a commanding tone and a small snub at his name.

Hadrian looked at the rock and towards the vial that contained the magical residue from some spells. 'I guess he didn't come through after all.' Hadrian thought. He was already plotting the ways he could escape out of the courtroom. There was one thing that was a constant in all of the scenarios he ran through, they were all bloody.

Hadrian then grabbed the rock and felt a small amount of his magic be sucked out of his hand until the runes on the rock gave off a small shine. "Thank you." the prosecutor said happily. As he took the stone and placed it next to the vial, of which he took the cork out. Hadrian's muscles were taught, ready to spring at the first sign of anything going amiss. "For the final piece of evidence, I will connect this man to the murders that have been happening in France over the past couple of years." The man stated theatrically before waving his wand over the two objects in a complicated pattern. The two magical residues raised out of their respective holdings and touched before quickly flashing red and going back to their holding places.

Hadrian's muscles relaxed slightly as the prosecutor's face fell. "I apologize, I must have messed the spell up." The man said. He repeated the spell and was given the same result.

Hadrian's muscles all started to relax as he realized what that meant. 'Or maybe he did come through after all.' He thought.

On the other hand, the prosecutor was getting more frantic. He redid the spell for a third time with no change in result. The American representative spoke up. "Stop it Ardoin. As this was your final piece of evidence and also the only connection you had between this boy and the murders, I think I speak for my colleagues when I say that we can't hold the boy and that he is found not guilty." She said while she looked at the other representatives. They each gave nods of agreement. "Then I will adjourn this hearing and we will be on our way. Lord Peverell, you are free to go." She told the child.

Hadrian languidly stood up from his chair. "I thank each of you three for looking at the facts from an impartial point of view, and hope you have a good day." He said as he walked towards Lady Bones. She slipped her hand into her robes and pulled out his wand before handing it to him. He gave a small, appreciative nod then walked to the door he saw Sirius walk out of, the one only accessible by Lords and Ladies. He walked up the steps towards the door and the men guarding it got out of the way. He opened the door to Sirius sitting on a bench outside, waiting for him. The moment Sirius saw who it was, he jumped to his feet and gave Hadrian a bear hug. Hadrian returned it, though with less aggressiveness.

"How'd it go in there, pup?" Sirius asked.

"It went fine, there was no evidence to connect me to the things they were accusing me of." He told Sirius. "I'll tell you more about it later, but for now I would really like to get out of here." Hadrian told him.

"I couldn't agree more." Sirius said in a more upbeat tone. "I have the perfect place to go." He said and started to lead them to the exit point of the ministry.

"Are you going to tell me where?" Hadrian asked him.

"That would ruin the surprise." Sirius shot back. They came out of the section strictly for Lords and Ladies of the Wizengamot and were back out into the atrium. They were immediately swarmed by reporters who were trying to get a quote from him and ask him questions. He and Sirius fought through the crowds and were almost at the apparition point when he heard a question that he had heard the whole way and decided now to answer. Sirius stopped a couple steps away, across the line for apparition.

"Lord Peverell, how are you feeling about the trial and its outcome?" one of the reporters asked.

Hadrian looked straight at the reporter. "The trial showed me the corruption and flaws in this country's judicial process and most likely other parts of the government. There is only one thing I have to say." He told them as his voice then took a tone as sharp as steel. A hush fell over the crowd of reporters. "For those people who tried to set up this sham process today as well as hang me out to dry, know this. The Peverell family does not take insults lying down." He said before stepping over to Sirius and grabbing an item that Sirius was holding in his hand as the press exploded with questions. This all went away as the familiar sensation of getting yanked by the navel occurred.


	25. A Well Deserved Vacation

**Disclaimer: obviously I only own the idea of my story and not that of the original author of this series.**

' _Other language thoughts'_

" _Other language speech"_

'English thoughts'

"English speech"

This method is reversed in flashbacks

Not even gonna try putting French accents into the English portions

Chapter 25: A Well Deserved Vacation

The instant Hadrian landed from the portkey travel, the first thing that hit him was the heat. The humidity crashed into him and it felt so much different from the cold British winter that he had just gone through. He looked up at the black sky, showing that they had traveled a large distance. The breeze picked up for a slight moment, bringing a moment of bliss at the slight reprieve from the heavy humidity. He looked towards the house of the backyard they had just landed in. it was a larger house and seemed a little dreary, though Hadrian didn't think it was too bad. Hadrian then took a look around at the palm trees and various plants that surrounded the yard. The very end of the yard opened way to sand then eventually the ocean, which was gently lapping at the shore. He took a look at Sirius, and could see the stare of a man lost in memories. Hadrian decided to knock him out of them.

"Sirius, where are we?" he asked the man.

Sirius seemed to come back to the present at that question. "A family home of the Blacks." He said. "Man, I haven't been here since I was a child." He said with a tone of slight longing. "Has it really been that long?" he added, more as an afterthought to himself than to Hadrian.

Hadrian was slightly confused. "I thought MACUSA was extremely uptight about new arrivals into the country?" he asked. it was one of the reasons he had never tried to travel across the pond before. European countries had much more lax magical travel laws.

"You're thinking of muggle America. While most of country's borders are consistent between muggle and magical worlds, the Hawaii islands never got taken over by the America in the magical world. In the muggle world, it was taken over due to some military reason. The magicals never had that reason." Sirius educated Hadrian. "I think there was also a treaty between the America and the islands, though I'm not entirely sure." He admitted. He remembered asking a similar question when his father had started teaching him and his brother the basics of politics. "The Hawaiians have a much more fluid policy on visitation for their magical side. If you have property here, they generally check you out when you buy the property then let you come and go as you please. The only time they might come check on you is if you bring a large group with you. Other than that, they are pretty easy going. They have a live and let live policy, though they generally keep an eye on newcomers from the outside.

Hadrian nodded his head, he then let his senses scan as far as he could without too much effort. He quickly got one conclusion from his search and asked Sirius to see if he knew. "Why is the air so saturated with magic?" Hadrian asked.

"20 questions time?" Sirius teased. He summoned two chairs from the back porch of the house and plopped down into one. Hadrian followed his example, though in a more refined fashion. He looked at Hadrian with the face of a parent giving his child advice. "My guess is the type of magic they do." Sirius said. "Their style of magic is more rituals than wand work. Don't get me wrong, they use wands. It's just that they don't have any special kind of magic in wand use like many other countries do. They use more natural magic to do things. That's the most likely reason." Sirius explained.

Hadrian didn't argue but felt that there was something flawed with that explanation. The magic in the air was mostly even across his scan, not centered around a ritual site. It was possible for this to happen, but there would be evidence of rituals all over the place and he doubted the muggles would be that blind towards magic happening everywhere. It was also vaguely familiar, though he couldn't place it. He didn't press the point with Sirius. He doubted that the man even felt the magic around him at that level. Hadrian was sure Sirius could find malicious objects in the near vicinity, as his job required, but the more sophisticated magical feelings would most likely go ever the man's head.

"Next question. What are we doing here?" he asked.

Sirius gave him a slightly confused look. "To relax. It's called a vacation. You used to go on them, remember?" he said. Hadrian did remember, albeit vaguely. Ones from when he was a child, naïve to the world and its workings.

"How long are we going to be here?" he probed.

Sirius gave a noncommittal shrug. "As long as we want to. I don't have any obligations in Britain. I have the duties from the Wizengamot, but I can send Andi to do those for me." He told Hadrian.

That confused Hadrian. "Don't you have your job?" he asked the man.

Sirius' face got a little more serious. "I quit. I couldn't handle working there after what they were able to pull. I joined the aurors to fight in the war and hoped to help clean up the system from the influence that the Dark families held upon the court. I thought that at least the light families would have grown a spine so that the trial would happen in a manner that was typical. Instead they let that shitstorm go down. I had no intention of working for something under the purview of those people, not when I know that you were telling the truth about Voldemort. The Dark will try to cut the DMLE out at the knees and Fudge will be too much off an idiot to stop them, most likely aiding them if nothing else. I didn't want to be part of that and chose to cut ties from anything that would tie up my time." Sirius explained.

"And I don't think you have any obligations either, I also don't think you care for your vote at this time." He said with a querying eye towards Hadrian. Hadrian just shook his head. "Good, then we can leave whenever we feel like it." Sirius said. "For the time being, just kick back and relax." Sirius said as he transfigured his chair to be longer, then propped his legs up. He looked towards the ocean and seemed to get lost in memories, so Hadrian decided to leave him to it.

"I'm going to go inside." Hadrian told the man. Sirius gave a very negligent response, so Hadrian headed into the house. He walked around the inside of the house, looking at the layout. It was a two-story house with all of the rooms focused on the second floor. The first story had a kitchen attached to an eating area as well as a lounge area. There was a room filled with children toys, though the magic seemed to have waned out of most of them. Another door led to a bathroom fit with a shower. The last door opened to reveal a flight of stairs leading down. Hadrian followed them and looked upon the ritual room that was in front of him. 'It seemed like the Blacks didn't pick this place solely for vacation.' Hadrian thought.

He walked back up the stairs before he closed the door to the ritual room. He would explore it more in depth at a later date. He went to the second story and looked at the available rooms. He bypassed the master bedroom and took the one towards the other end of the hall. He sat down on the bed and relaxed back, happy to finally be in a place he didn't have to at least a little on guard at all times.

The next few days were spent getting used to the time difference. During the first few nights, Hadrian took to exploring the surrounding area. He was looking for signs of any constant magic that might explain the feeling of evenly spread out magic that was constantly on his mind. His searches had come up with nothing to give any evidence as to why the magic was behaving like it was. The daylight that they were awake for was spent at the beach and then going out to try some of the local cuisine. They had stuck to muggle restaurants so far, as they wanted to visit the magical portion of society when they had a full day to explore.

Once the few days necessary for their bodies to get used to the native time zone passed, they went out to go explore the magical side of the largest tropical island in the chain. Sirius apparated them to a part of the island that looked much more authentic than the cities that had been slightly corporatized by the muggles. It had some smaller houses that looked more native to the island and had much less technology everywhere. They then started walking to the outskirts of the small area to where two large tiki poles were sitting. Hadrian could feel the massive amounts of magic that was surrounding what he assumed was the gateway to the magical hub of Hawaii. Sirius gave him a little shove towards the gateway which broke Hadrian from his thoughts of how they were doing this particular feat of magic.

Hadrian strode through the gateway, feeling as if the sun's rays were going over him as he walked through, and came out in a huge collection of stalls. There were also large amounts of magicals wandering around and looking at the wares. Hadrian took a step to the side so that he didn't block the gateway and just let the feeling of all the magics wash over him. So many different scents, sensations, and sounds came pouring in. Hadrian could feel the various types of magic that came with different cultures, which would make sense given the border policies.

The one thing that was hard to sense was the place they had just come through. It was muted to him, as if somebody had thrown a blanked over something that had been making noise. Still there, just distorted. In fact, anything that wasn't the market place was hard to get a feel for. It just added to the mystery of the magics surrounding this island. Whatever was going on here, would need significant magical power to be put into it for the effect that they desired. It seemed to be linked to something distant in the ground. Most likely a leyline.

All of this was felt in under thirty seconds, and that seemed to be all the time that Sirius was going to give him. "Come on. Let's go explore." He said excitedly, like a child. "You can do all your research stuff later." He told Hadrian as he pulled out a pouch and handed it to Hadrian.

Hadrian tried to give it back. "I don't need money Sirius." He told him while holding out the money in Sirius' direction. The older man wouldn't take it though.

"It's the job of one's guardian to spoil their charge. If you don't want to accept that excuse, then just think of it as backpay for all of the years of holidays and birthdays that I missed." Sirius said before disappearing, taking with him the chance to give back the money.

Hadrian pocketed the money and made his way into the stalls. It seemed as if there wasn't much if any regulation that happened as he could feel the amount of magic coming off of objects and could see the variety of runes that covered objects. The stalls weren't just limited to natives. Once you got past the opening stalls, the nationality of the stalls started varying by quite a large degree. He could see various European wares as well as wares that had a much more Eastern look and feel to them. The wares from the African stalls were the most similar to the things the Hawaiian stalls were selling, though with a different feel to them. The largest space that any shop got was given to stave stalls. They had all types of staves from old, gnarled wood to sleek and shiny polished ones. He could feel the varying connection to some of them, and the outright rejection he would receive should he try out some of the others.

He continued making his way through the stalls, blindly wandering throughout the sprawl of stalls. He waited for something of interest to catch his senses rather than his eyes. Seeing something that was worthwhile was going to be hard in this myriad of colors and displays of people selling their wars. At one point during his wandering he saw Sirius talking to some local lady and Hadrian just shook his head. Regardless of place in the world, Sirius seemed to be a horndog. Hadrian continued further into the expanse of stalls.

It was after another twenty to thirty minutes of walking that he walked over a ward line. He stopped quickly to evaluate before finding it to be safe to cross. As he did, there was a distinct change in the air. The general hubbub of the market started to fade away and in turn the air was being charged with a much higher amount of magic. This portion of the market was a bit more organized in terms of how the stalls were set up and how no one was trying was just up trying to display their wares to passerby. The number of shoppers was also significantly lower, though held much more power than most of the people in the larger portion of the market.

One of the first stalls was a Japanese sword stall, holding enchanted katanas. His eyes glanced over the swords hung up on the walls and came to rest on one of the ones resting about two thirds of the way up the wall on the back-left side. His eyes weren't drawn to it for its look, it wasn't even impressive in that department. It was matted with dust and the design upon the handle had faded. The feel of it overshadowed all of the other swords in the stall like a torch in a room full of matches. It was a sword made to cut, and not just physical things. He could feel the magic on the sword destroying whatever effects the aura of any of the other swords that were around it when it came in contact with the sword. He continued to look at it.

"You into antiques or something?" The owner asked Hadrian in a heavily accented voice. He was a squat man with flowing black hair and distinct Japanese features.

Hadrian was about to brush off the question with a more general answer before he looked into the eyes of the man and saw the calculating gleam in the man's eyes. He knew what he was carrying and he wanted to make sure that Hadrian actually knew what he was looking at before engaging in any serious dialogue. The fact that he didn't even have to look back to know what sword Hadrian was looking at was also a tip off. "Older things can be much more than most realize, especially if one is sharp enough to see it." Hadrian replied, putting double meaning into his words. The man seemed to catch on and smiled. "Do you have any true interest in any of these right now?" the man asked him.

Hadrian thought about it for a second before shaking his head. "Then let me give you a word of advice newcomer. You have entered the serious magical market. Be careful what you look for, lest you find it." he told Hadrian before relaxing.

Hadrian gave a slight bow of the head before heading into the new stalls. He came across potions and ritual instructions for how to find your inner animal. He came across boxes for trapping ghosts or spirits and boxes that had ghosts or spirits trapped in them currently. He saw many types of armor as well as more exotic wares. One such item was a pair of shoes modeled after the myths of Hermes that were sitting in a bird cage. The shoes had pairs of wings that were gently flapping. Another strange item he saw was a flint that sparked fiendfyre. 'Only an idiot would buy that. Somebody who can't create will never be able to control it.' he thought to himself.

This was a grave folly of magicals. Thinking that creations from other people meant that they controlled the magic the item gave them an advantage over. The only reason one would ever use that flint would be if they couldn't create fiendfyre and had the intention of leaving the area immediately. He also wandered past a tattoo parlor that put live tattoos on. He spent the next few hours walking through the stalls and not finding anything he actually wanted to buy until he came across a necromancy stall owned by a German woman.

She had a tall figure with a heavy set of features on her face. She looked to be somewhere in her fifties, although with magic it was always hard to tell. He looked around her stall and looked around. He was forced to read the labels available, as he had no experience with the feeling of most of the things she was selling. He had no doubt that most if not all of the items were legitimate just from the amount of magic that was oozing out of them. The things within the stall looked promising and promised himself that he would come back after doing some research.

He decided to call it a day after viewing that shop and headed back into the main part of the shopping district where cacophony resumed after he passed the ward line. It took him about ten minutes to find Sirius, chatting up some girl, and waited while Sirius and the lady made plans to meet at a later date. They both walked the distance back to the gateway and walked back out into the non-magical world. The instant they crossed the gateway the sights and sounds, as well as any magical sensation, died out. Nothing that Hadrian had just been feeling from the stalls was there anymore. It felt like the differences after using magical transportation over large distances, though Hadrian knew they were transported anywhere far as he could feel the outside while he was in the market place. It just added to the already complex mystery he wanted to look into.

The sun was falling close to the horizon as the both apparated back to the house and walked through the door. Sirius placed down some trinkets onto the table. They looked and felt more like souvenirs than anything that was actually useful. Sirius looked a little downcast as the only thing Hadrian put on the table was the pouch that Sirius had given him at the beginning of their time at the market. "You didn't find anything you wanted, huh?" Sirius asked.

"Nothing I could actually justify buying currently." He replied.

"Maybe next time." Sirius said optimistically. He wanted Hadrian to have something physical that he could remember the trip with. Even if it wasn't a conventional souvenir. "We'll go to dinner in about an hour." He told the younger man.

"Alright, I'll be in my room till then." He told Sirius as he walked up the stairs. He plunked down onto his bed and wondered what his future searches would reveal to him about the island.

Hadrian spent the next month looking around the gateway of the market. He was trying to figure out what made it work. He also went in and talked to the merchants in the back portion of the shopping place. He learned more about the wares pedaled by the necromancer and was close to purchasing a few of the items, although the items were at hellacious prices.

The first interesting thing about the gateway was that the runes were made in Western styled runes, not the local dialect. With the disconnect between the MACUSA and the Hawaiian Islands, Hadrian thought that there would be more of a separation of how things were created and used. He also found out that the market was put in its own pocket dimension, though it was slightly removed from the space and time of the surrounding area. _That_ was a more interesting find. Seeing as nobody had reliably figured out how to have this effect with any consistency, he wanted to know how a group of separated magicals had figured out how to do that magic over a large area with a language that clearly did not originate from them.

With that mystery solved, Hadrian had much more spare time on his hands. He used that time learning to surf, although it was probably a lot easier for him since he could create his own waves. That was another thing. The feeling of being surrounded by his element at all times was slightly euphoric. He was connected with so much around him. He tried to push his limit every day, expanding his already significant reach further and further. His control expanded deep into the ocean and he was happy with his progress. His other time was spent hanging out with Sirius, though that didn't stop the women that came to their home. Hadrian didn't mind, it very rarely interrupted whatever Hadrian was doing and Sirius was very consistent about remembering to put up a silencing ward.

It was about three months since arriving. The only thing that had happened of any note was that Sirius took Hadrian out to a really nice restaurant for his birthday and that Sirius had started to branch out into the muggle world for the women that he was seeing. The current one he was hanging out with was a nature lover and slight health nut from the States. He hadn't really cared to learn her name. She had managed to rope Sirius into going on a hike up towards the volcano and for the life of him, he didn't know how Sirius had talked him into it. This all lead to them being in a car, driving for a couple of hours to where you started the hike. The only good thing that came out of the car ride was that he learned her name was Madeline. Madeline parked the car and the trio looked around the area. The road cut off just up ahead and from there on out it was a bunch of cooled magma. It almost endless and held the promise of miles of hiking. Hadrian could see that Sirius was slightly regretting agreeing to this.

An hour and a half in and Sirius' face was drenched in sweat from the blazing sun. He had refused to use a cooling charm due to it being to suspicious if his date ever touched him and felt the coolness of his skin. Hadrian, on the other hand, just used his element to keep the water molecules in the air around him at a manageable level and was good with that.

The irony of the hike was that as it went on, Sirius lost interest while Hadrian gained it. The closer they got to the volcano, the stronger the sensation of the magical feeling around the island was getting stronger. He could also feel that there was a ley line running underneath the volcano.

"You feeling good, old man? I don't want to have to carry you back to the car." Hadrian teased Sirius with a slight smirk.

Sirius gave Hadrian an indignant look as he inhaled a couple times to catch his breath. "I'll have you know that I'm in peak physical." Sirius rebuffed, earning a scoff from Hadrian and a slight giggle from his date.

"The only peak I'm seeing here is that one from your belly." He said as he pointed at Sirius' stomach.

Sirius gave an indignant squawking "What?". Hadrian didn't actually think that Sirius was too out of shape, the man just didn't have the training for long cardio activities. He was trained for short bursts of movements in duels and quick reactions in the field. Long and unending walks weren't in his training regimen, especially in the humid heat.

Hadrian and Sirius bickered back and forth a bit more before lapsing back into silence, upon which Madeline started a conversation with Sirius and their attention was pulled into one another.

It took another couple of hours of walking to reach the point where they weren't supposed to go any further. They stood towards the end and watched the magma trickle down over the earth as the sun had descended halfway down the sky. They pulled out some food they had in their packs and quietly ate while looking at the scenery. After they had all finished their food, Madeline stood up and swiped her hands to get rid of the crumbs. "Seems like its time to be heading back." She told the both of them.

Hadrian disagreed. He had come all this way and he felt the anti-apparition ward that they had passed close to an hour ago. He assumed that it surrounded the entire volcano and that the only way to get here was by walking or some official way to travel faster to the volcano. "You guys head back, I'm going to hang out here for a bit longer." He told the both of them.

Madeline gained a look of concern and looked towards Sirius to see if he was going to go against Hadrian's statement. Seeing as he wasn't, she decided to take it upon herself. "We can't do that. It's going to get dark soon after we arrive at the car and it wouldn't be responsible of us to leave you out here where you might get lost or stumble and injure yourself. Right Sirius?" she ended with a voice that was prompting him to say yes.

Sirius was torn between going with what would seem logical in the situation for most kids of fifteen or answering in the way that took into account things that Madeline didn't know. However, he was relieved of the choice when Hadrian waved his hand at the woman and he saw her eyes go glassy. He looked at Hadrian with some anger. "What the hell are you doing?" he demanded in a heated voice.

"Relax." Hadrian stated in a calm tone. "She's just confounded to believe that I'm leaving with you. I have no desire to have someone I don't know try to dictate my life because of societal norms. She'll be fine once you guys get home. Plus, I have something I want to go look into and I don't need any people who could possibly be untrustworthy to know." He tried to placate the man.

Sirius took a few calming breaths. "Fine." He said curtly. "But no more using magic on the people I bring over without my talking to me about it or it being an emergency, capeesh?" He told Hadrian.

"Alright." Hadrian agreed negligently. "I'll meet you at home." He told Sirius before heading off behind some rocks and disappearing from sight using the cloak. He watched Sirius and Madeline disappear into the direction of where they had started their hike before he floated himself over the fencing put up around the area and landed back onto the ground. Looking at the volcano it seemed like it would be another half hour to hike to it and he didn't know how long it would take to explore what he wanted.

He started walking and very quickly came upon a muggle repelling ward that was put there to make any wayward muggles turn and go back to whichever point they had started their hike from. Shortly afterwards was a befuddlement ward, made to deter the magicals that got this far and would make them forget why they had started this journey in the first place. This would make them turn around as there is no sense in continuing a journey without reason. It was a ward that could be ignored with strong enough mental barriers.

Hadrian continued on his way going up the volcano as he felt the magic continue to grow in strength. Another ten minutes had him standing at the edge of an alert ward created to ping somebody monitoring it and to grab the magical signature of the person who crossed it. The cloak keeping him hidden allowed him to bypass this ward and he continued on his merry way. The rest of the way up the volcano was a minefield of various traps. They were made to shock the recipient in a show if electricity which would make him visible to anyone watching and in no position to defend themselves. It wasn't until he was close to reaching the summit of the volcano that he was able to make out the suppressed magic of people guarding something a little way off of the path.

He silently walked over to them, making sure not to disturb anything beneath his feet. He crept up right behind both of them before stunning the both of them, giving them no time to react. The both dropped like a sack of bricks and their disillusions enchantments faded away to reveal two natives that were armed with two wands each as well as emergency portkeys and some other magical items. Hadrian searched their person for keys and found one on one of the men. He relieved the men of their wands and magical items before tying the two of them up and placing gags over their mouths. He put all their stiff in a bag that he placed under some loose rubble. Beyond being in his way, these guys were just doing their jobs and it was most likely in a governmental capacity.

He searched around a bit and found the illusioned door which he used the key to walk into. The door opened into a hallway leading downwards and towards the center of the volcano. The feeling of a magic that was so familiar but thought would be impossible to feel anywhere. The tunnel led out to a viewing room. He looked out into what the room was meant to monitor.

'I think I know what the agreement was.' He thought to himself.


End file.
